Remembering
by Dearlady2002
Summary: The Goblin King is determined to return Above to see Sarah, but when something goes terribly awry, he finds himself alone in a new, strange world, with no recollection of who he is..
1. Prequel

**"Remembering"** by Andrea 'Dearlady' Brink

Started January 12, 2011.

The Goblin King is determined to return Above to see Sarah, but when something goes terribly awry,  
he finds himself alone in a new, strange world, with no recollection of who he is..

* * *

"If I traded it all,  
If I gave it all away,  
for one thing,  
just for one thing..  
wouldn't that be something?"

Finger 11, "If I traded it all"

Prologue

"The Court now recognizes Jareth, King of the Land of Goblins, Ruler of the Labyrinth and surrounding properties." Hushed whisperings immediately circled through the people gathered. Jareth had _never_ appeared as a petitioner before the Court.

No one in the Goblin King's kingdom knew how old he was, or how long he had been the ruler of the Labyrinth. But everyone knew that he had always been alone, to rule over the land and the creatures and the magic. Everyone in his kingdom knew of the girl who had bested his Labyrinth; the only one known in history to have done so, and everyone knew how angry the King was to have lost at his game. But no one realized how quickly the smart, stubborn, beautiful young girl had found a way into the Goblin King's heart.

It was for this reason, several years later, that he now found himself standing in the center of what could only be described as a coliseum-like courtroom; rows upon rows of stadium-tiered seats towered above him, filled with dignitaries from all over the Underground. The effect of the room was to make the interviewed person feel negligible, yet under intense scrutiny; and indeed, every eye in the building was locked upon him at the moment. He had been here many times before; usually as an occupant of the tiered seats, though he had occasionally prosecuted alleged criminals of his kingdom here also.

But he'd never stood here when the prejudiced decision of so many could change the course of his life forever. Though it was utterly terrifying, he kept the calm, indifferent mask on his face that he usually wore at such events.

The High Judge looked down at Jareth from the highest perch in the room and banged his gavel loudly on the wood of the desk.

"Order! I'll have order!" The surrounding whispers died down immediately.

"Now, Jareth, why have you come to petition the Court to be allowed Above? Can't you travel Above whenever you are Summoned?"

"Certainly, I can, Your Honor," Jareth clasped his hands behind his back as he addressed the Judge. "However, that also means that I cannot travel Above to converse with a particular individual unless I am Summoned _by_ that individual." More whispers met his response.

"Indeed. And why the necessity to go Above? You have no unfinished business with Wishers that I am aware of. The last one Wished away was well over a year ago." The Judge eyed Jareth as if daring him to argue with him.

"You are perceptive as always," Jareth bowed slightly towards the Judge. The last child Wished away, a young girl of about two years old, had actually been granted to the Judge's daughter, and was the first child in their family. While Jareth had no say in the matter of where the children were adopted, when he had heard the news that the young girl had been placed in so high a familial position, he had immediately leapt upon filing his petition. The chance that the Judge might choose in his favor could not be passed up.

"I have petitioned the Court to go Above, without Summons, to speak with an individual who had Wished away a child several years ago." Another ripple of chatter swept through the audience.

"Silence!" The Judge bellowed at the crowd, then turned his attention back to Jareth. "I assume you speak of the young girl who beat your Labyrinth?"

Jareth nodded. "Yes, although time has passed for her; she is no longer a young girl, but a woman."

"And why do you desire to speak with her? If she has not Summoned you, I daresay she has no further business with you. The child was returned, was he not?"

Jareth nodded again. "Yes, her brother was returned to her. I wished to speak with her.." Jareth felt the eyes of many focus even more shrewdly on him, and he damned the formalities that required him to speak in this mass arena, instead of a more private venue with the Judge alone. "I wished to speak with her because she is the only Challenger to ever beat my maze. The only one who successfully rallied my own subjects to her cause-"

"Then it sounds like this is a girl who should be deemed an Enemy of the Kingdoms, not someone to go a-calling," a harsh voice interrupted him from somewhere up in the stands.

The dignitaries turned in their seats, trying to spot the speaker, though Jareth knew the voice at once.

_Darivel_.

The man was, at best, a psychotic madman whose only ambition in life was to attain as many kingdoms as possible through deceit and murder, and at worst, was a psychotic madman who delighted in torturing and killing innocent people and creatures. Either way, he was a psychotic madman. The walking red carpet that Sarah had befriended on her journey through his maze was actually a refugee from one of this man's kingdoms. Jareth had only allowed the giant, rock-slinging disaster into his kingdom in the first place because he'd heard stories of what Darivel and his men did to the beasts. There was no way he could have refused and sent the creature back to the hell it had escaped from.

Jareth set his jaw and continued speaking to the Judge as if he had not been interrupted. "I wish to speak with the only woman who would be a fitting match to the Crown." The crowded room gasped in unison and began talking quite loudly amongst each other.

"ORDER!" The Judge pounded his gavel so loudly Jareth thought the handle would snap. The room quieted just enough for the Judge to be heard over the commotion. "Do you mean to tell me that you would like to invite a _mortal _woman to be your _Queen_?"

Jareth knew this would be a tough case to sell to the panel of dignitaries if the judge decided not to rule in his favor. It was common practice to adopt mortal-born children into Fae families to help bolster their numbers, as Fae couples had extremely low birthrates due to their longevity, but no one had ever appointed a mortal-born individual to any position of power. It was simply unheard of.

_And for no good reason_, Jareth thought. They would have never thought twice about it if Sarah had been Fae. She had shown many of the qualities they looked for when choosing new rulers.

For a moment, the Judge simply stared at Jareth, an unreadable expression on his face.

"And, if we were to grant you permission to go on your journey Above," the Judge said slowly, "would this woman willingly return with you to become your Queen?"

Jareth struggled to keep his face impassive when he replied. "I do not know, Your Honor," he said truthfully. "It has been some time since she has seen me, and even I have to admit, it was not under ideal circumstances at the time." He heard a few people in the stands chuckle at this. Jareth privately thought that Sarah _had_ to have some feelings for him- the way she looked at him when they danced, the way she followed him with her eyes.. He was an attractive man, undoubtedly, but there was more to it than that.

"Very true." The Judge stared at Jareth with such intensity, he had to fight the urge to fidget or look away.

"Very well," he said again, suddenly rising. "I hereby grant you permission to travel Above for a period of twenty four hours-"

"Sir, I regret that I must protest at that time allowance," Jareth interrupted. He hoped he was not destroying his only chance at all to go Above and speak to Sarah, but there was no way he could see if she had feelings for him in return, _and_ convince her to return with him to rule in a mere twenty four hours.

The Judge stared at him, mouth agape. "And how long would you request you be allowed Above?" he asked with the air of one doing someone an incredible favor.

"I.. I would find it most generous of the Courts to grant me permission to stay Above for the maximum span of two weeks." The crowded room burst out into argumentative cries. Jareth continued talking above the noise. "I believe that two weeks would be a sufficient amount of time to adequately prepare this woman for the task of becoming a ruler." In all honesty, it was the most time he could allow himself to have- no one had ever stayed Above for longer than two weeks and returned alive to tell the tale. The exact cause was unknown, but it was believed that the lack of magic Above weakened and eventually killed any Fae foolish enough to stay that long. It was a dangerous request at best.

"Your Honor!" A familiar raspy voice shouted above the noise. "I cannot allow this!"

"Order in the Court!" the Judge pounded his gavel again, and for the time, the room was once again quiet. "The Court recognizes Darivel," he said, skipping the rest of the formalities. "What do you want, Darivel?"

Jareth's blood burned as the man stood, a sneer on his scarred face. He pushed a lock of black hair out of his eyes and addressed the crowded room.

"I cannot allow this man to go on a _vacation_ Aboveworld for two whole weeks, to tarry with some whore, with his kingdom left unattended! Who will keep order in his stead? Would you have those goblins of his wrecking havoc on the rest of our Kingdoms?"

The room murmured at this age-old argument; the goblins simply could not be left unattended.

"Agreed," the Judge said, more to himself that to Darivel. He sat for a moment, lips pursed in thought.

"Well," he finally said, "Jareth, I am granting your nearly unheard-of request to be allowed Above for a time span of two weeks," Jareth clenched his fist at his side in victory, "however, since, indeed, we cannot let your goblin population run amok in your absence, I am appointing Darivel-" the Judge looked to the scarred man as he spoke, "to keep peace in your leave, as he was _terribly _concerned for the safety of the other kingdoms.."

Darivel looked with rage from the Judge, to Jareth.

* * *

A black vulture with a scarred face landed atop one of the scraggly trees that grew in the Borderlands beyond the outer wall of the Labyrinth. The tree branch it landed on bowed dangerously under it's weight, so the bird gave a harsh noise of protest, and flew to land on the ground.

Upon landing, the bird transformed with an alien grace into the tall, dark-haired silhouette of Darivel. He magicked a crystal into existence and stared into its depths with a satisfied smirk. He leaned against the scraggly little tree and watched the window of one of the taller towers on the castle as he waited.

Sure enough, within a few moments, a tawny colored barn owl took flight out of the window.

Darivel quickly stood and flung the crystal with all his might at the barn owl, backing the throw with his magic to make it's aim true and it's distance long.

The crystal hit the owl square in the chest just as the bird disappeared in a poof of glitter and light. "Goodbye, Jareth," Darivel smirked, then turned on his heel, and entered the doors into the Labyrinth.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

This story has been competing with "Three Sides" for room inside my skull, and I finally got sick of their fighting and I've now put them each into their separate corners, told them to be good, _**or else. **_For now, they're playing nice and I'm hoping to update each story in a timely manner. If you'd like updates faster/more often, please review, as they actually _do _encourage me to get my butt in gear since there are people waiting on me.

In the meantime, please check out my plush Jareth barn owl; there is a link in my profile.


	2. Chapter 1

"Today I saw the strangest thing on the news.."

Sheryl Crow, "Where has all the love gone?"

Chapter 1:

Sarah leaned back in her office chair and groaned in agony as Men At Work's "Safety Dance" came on over the radio for the umpteenth time that day.

"_We can dance if we want to, we can leave your friends behind, cause your friends don't dance, and if they don't dance, well they're no friends of mine_.."

"What?" her coworker, and best friend, Chrissy, asked her from over the divider wall.

"Do we _have_ to listen to the radio 24/7?" Sarah asked, bringing up their old argument again. Chrissy said she couldn't work without music to listen to. Sarah didn't normally mind, but Chrissy had had it playing on the same station for over a week now, and Sarah was burnt out on the oldies music.

"Would you rather I listen to the news?" Chrissy asked with a grin, and toggled the knob on the radio. A man's voice interrupted Sarah's protest as Chrissy turned the volume up.

"..convicted of third degree murder. He will serve life in prison without parole. And in recent news, a man was admitted to Saint Mary's hospital yesterday, with no knowledge of his identity. Police are unsure if the man has suffered head trauma, and hospital staff are.."

"NO," Sarah finally made herself heard over the volume as she reached over the low dividing wall between their desks and turned it back down. "It's always so depressing," she added, as a woman's voice added that anyone knowing the identity of the man should please contact staff at Saint Mary's.

"Well, I need the noise. Sorry," she shrugged. Chrissy glanced at the clock on the wall. "You're caught up on your files, why don't you head home early, have a nice weekend? I've still got some more to go."

Sarah looked at her watch. Four thirty. "Yeah, it's close enough. It's not like there is much more I can do tonight." She stood and stretched, and gathered her jacket and purse. "See you on Monday, Chrissy."

"Sure, have a nice weekend," the blonde waved over the divider wall.

"You too."

* * *

Sarah shut her apartment door behind her, and dropped her jacket, purse, keys, and mail into the empty armchair closest to the door. She flicked the tv on for background noise, tossed the remote onto the couch, then went into the tiny kitchen to make herself something for dinner.

"And the high today was sixty five degrees, with the evening low dipping down to forty nine.." the tv droned on in the background as she stirred the alfredo sauce and pasta together in her microwaveable dinner. Once it was heated through all the way, she took the tiny cardboard tray and a fork, and walked to the living room, concentrating on blowing on a forkful of pasta to cool it as she walked.

"..And we're bringing you more on the recent story of a man admitted to a local hospital with no knowledge of his identity. Brian is on location with more on the story." Sarah sat down on the couch and took a bite of her pasta, as a new reporter- tall and skinny with glasses- came on the screen.

"Thank you, Steve. I'm here at Saint Mary's hospital, where a startling new case has baffled hospital staff. A man, apparently suffering from amnesia, was admitted yesterday after he was found wandering the streets. He was nearly hit several times by cars before police could restrain him." The image flicked to a video, probably shot with a passerby's cell phone from the shoddy, shaky quality of it, of two police officers attempting to wrestle a man out of the road. Brian, the reporter, came back on screen to add that "initial attempts to identify the man have proven unsuccessful- dental records and fingerprints have both come back with no matches…"

Sarah paused mid-chew. That was odd- sure, only criminals and people like police and security usually had fingerprints on file, but _everyone_ had dental records. Where had this man come from, some third-world country?

"..And hospital staff are equally mystified by his amnesia, as preliminary tests show no damage to the brain, or other signs of trauma." The tv image flicked now to a woman dressed in scrubs, clearly one of the hospital staff.

"We are urging everyone to please, call us if you may be able to help in identifying this man." Sarah recognized the woman's voice from the radio earlier, so this was a pre-recorded snippet. Brian came back on screen to list both the hospital's phone number, as well as the news station's number, as the image flicked finally to the man that had been admitted.

Sarah choked on her pasta as the picture changed.

There, dressed in a pale blue hospital gown, and half buried under a mountain of blankets on the hospital bed, was none other than the Goblin King.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Sorry this chapter was so short, but I _had_ to at least get Sarah into the picture before I waited to update again. I've already got a few chapters ahead written, and waiting to go. Please review!


	3. Chapter 2

"I'm bewildered,  
for we're strangers when we meet"

David Bowie, "Strangers When We Meet"

Chapter 2:

Sarah coughed, eyes watering, as she fought for breath. She put the microwave dinner down beside her on the couch and scrambled for the remote, rewinding the last few minutes of the news to see the photo of the man again.

_It couldn't have been.. _She pushed play.

It couldn't have been him, yet _there he was_, again.

_The Goblin King._

She pushed pause on the remote and blankly stared at his face on the screen. If he didn't have such distinct features, she probably would not have recognized him. He was a far cry from how she had seen him last; his hair now hung limp around his face and looked unkempt, his normally thin face was pale, even haggard, and his once beautiful eyes had the wary, frightened expression of a dog who'd been kicked repeatedly.

Seemingly without thinking, she picked up the phone and dialed the numbers frozen on the bottom of the screen.

"Saint Mary's Hospital, how can I help you?" said the professional-sounding voice on the other end of the line.

"I.. Uh.." Sarah licked her lips nervously. "I think I know who your unidentified man is."

* * *

Sarah found herself getting out of her car in the hospital parking garage and froze for a moment. She didn't even remember driving the twenty minutes there from her apartment, she seemed to be working on autopilot.

What was she doing here? She had no idea if that was Jareth she had seen on the tv (_of course it was Jareth_, her brain told her), and she had no idea what she should tell the hospital staff. That they were once acquaintances? And what happened when they started asking her about his history? And then a thought occurred to her that made her stop dead in her tracks- would he try to kidnap Toby, or even _her_, again?

She climbed back into the car and was about to pull the door shut to leave when the image of his face on the tv screen flashed into her mind again.

_Those eyes_..

Something about those eyes, those empty, frightened, hopeless eyes, made her think that this was not just some ploy to steal one of her family members again. She had to at least see if this was real. _Besides_, her brain told her, _he only took Toby because you _asked _him to_.

_Shut up_, she told herself as she got out of the car once again, shut the door, and started walking towards the hospital entrance.

* * *

"He's not taking any interviews, now please leave, or I'll have to call security," Sarah heard the nurse at the front desk say tersely to the man at the counter. He grumbled something under his breath about the six o'clock news then left, and Sarah stepped forward.

"Can I help you?" The nurse at the desk asked politely.

"Hi. I'm Sarah Williams," she said as she looked around nervously, as if expecting an army of goblins to jump out from behind a chair and abduct her. "I called earlier about your unknown man." The nurse brightened.

"Well, that is terrific, we were beginning to wonder if we would _ever_ figure out who he is." She started to lead Sarah down the hallway towards the individual patient rooms.

"Oh, please-" Sarah anxiously grabbed the woman's arm, "I'm not.. I'm not sure if I know him or not." The nurse looked at her skeptically. "I mean, I thought I recognized him on the news but I'm not sure."

The nurse nodded. "Very well. Let's go in then, and see if he's your man. The sedatives should have worn off by now," she said, and walked a few more steps down the hall.

_They had to sedate him?_

"Oh, but I don't want to wake him if he's sleeping," Sarah offered lamely, struggling to think of any excuse _not_ to go in the same room with the man who kidnapped her brother, and drugged and tried to seduce her. Suddenly it sounded like a _very_ good idea to get out of here as quickly as possible.

"Oh, nonsense. He's hardly slept a wink since they brought him in and I'm sure he'd be glad to see a familiar face around here anyways," the nurse said as she walked a few more doors down the hallway, opened one, peeked her head inside, then waved Sarah to come. Unable to think of any more excuses, Sarah reluctantly followed the nurse inside.

* * *

"Good evening, again, Sir," the nurse said warmly as she walked across the room to close the window blinds for the evening. "I have a visitor for you." The nurse beckoned at Sarah, who was still reluctantly hanging just in the doorway. She timidly took one step forward into the room, tensed and ready to run if necessary.

Sarah wasn't prepared for the sight of the Goblin King that met her eyes, and she actually gasped when she saw him. He looked worse than the image she had seen on the tv. He was sitting upright in bed, his knees pulled to his chest, one hand clasped over them in an obvious sign of nervousness. He had a cloth bandage wrapped at an angle around his head; a few cuts and bruises peeked out from under it on one side of his face (Sarah wondered if that was from being tackled by the cops?). The hollow look to his eyes was much worse in person. If it weren't for the fear she could clearly see shining through them, she would have thought his eyes looked dead. Adding to the travesty were the IV tubes and various monitors hooked up to him, and a bright yellow, papery-looking bracelet around his wrist that simply said "FALL." Sarah was shocked to see that they'd actually _handcuffed_ him to the bed as well.

The nurse seemed pleased by Sarah's reaction, and assuming that this _was _Sarah's man, she said "well, I'll just give you two a few minutes to yourselves," and promptly left the room before Sarah could even get past her shock enough to realize that she was now alone in the room with _the freaking Goblin King_.

They both stared at each other for a few moments, until Jareth broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Who are you?" he asked her distrustfully. His voice made her jump, it wasn't the cultured, silky smooth voice she remembered from her past, it was more of a dry, raspy croak. The accent was still there, but the characteristic pride and arrogance were missing.

"Y-you don't remember me?" Sarah asked, taken aback. Was he serious? Somehow, the changes in his appearance, his tone, and attitude made her believe that the news story could be true; he really had no recollection of who he was.

Jareth simply stared at her.

"My name is Sarah," she said.

_Well, at least it seems that he isn't here to kidnap me, _she thought.

As an afterthought, she picked up a plastic-wrapped cup off of the nightstand by his bed, and walked into the bathroom connected to his room. She was surprised to see out of the corner of her eye that he had actually _jumped_ when she reached for the cup. As if she could hurt him.

_He could probably kill me in a second flat with one of those crystals of his, if he really wanted to.._

When she returned with of cold water from the sink and held it out to Jareth, he looked at her as if she were holding a snake out to him.

"Aren't you thirsty? Your voice sounds horrible," she said without thinking. Jareth stared at her in a way that reminded Sarah of a stray dog that was being offered food from the hand that held the dog-catching pole. Starving, but still unwilling to take the risk.

"It's just water," she said, and took a sip of the water to prove it to him. He made no move to take it from her, so she set the cup on the table near his bed, and moved back to stand by the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Why did they handcuff you to the bed?" She asked, pointing to the shiny steel on his wrist. He wouldn't have actually tried to harm one of the hospital staff, would he? Perhaps he threatened them with another one of those black and red snakes?

Jareth looked at her warily before finally answering. "They said it was for my safety; said that I was violent when they first brought me in," he sounded indignant. "I can't imagine why, being attacked by strangers and taken somewhere against your will.." he muttered.

Sarah could imagine surprisingly well how he felt.

"Am I supposed to know who you are?" He asked her suddenly. "You implied that I should remember you."

Sarah sighed. How do you explain to the Goblin King that he is an imaginary/fantasy/otherworldly figure who stole your baby brother, drugged you with a poisoned peach, and tried to seduce you in a dream bubble? Or was it really only a dream? She decided to go with the bare minimum.

"I guess you might normally remember me. We met once," she said. "You really don't remember your name?"

Jareth stared at her for a few moments, Sarah assumed he was trying to decide if she was trustworthy or not, since he apparently didn't know her from the next person. Finally he shook his head no.

"Your name is Jareth," she told him, unsure if he would even believe her. Jareth looked at her in a way that Sarah couldn't interpret.

"I'm sorry I can't tell you much more than that. I don't know how old you are, or where you were born, or who your parents are, or anything like that." She looked down at her hands, feeling a bit useless for coming. The sound of Jareth's voice after a few moments brought her head back up.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

"For what?" she asked, confused.

"For giving me back my name."

* * *

Jareth watched Sarah leave the room a little while later, and mulled over what little the woman had told him. She was not family to him- she had said they had met once before, though the way she said this made him think that they had not simply _met_, they had interacted more than saying "hello," then parting ways.

_My word_, Jareth thought, eyes suddenly wide, _we didn't have a passionate encounter, once, did we? _

He thought back to the skittish way the woman had entered the room, the way she had acted before she knew he did not know who she was. 

_No, it does not fit_. The thought still nagged at him though. _Perhaps it was something close to that.._

Still, after she had learned that he did not remember her, she had tried to be nice by bringing him a glass of water. Jareth did not want to drink it, though; for some reason he remembered hearing that water from certain places could make you sick. Perhaps this woman was not who she said she was, and wanted to cause him harm?

He would never know now, he guessed. The woman had seemed uncomfortable being in his presence, and had quickly left after she had told him who he was.

Jareth reflected on that.

She had told him his name, and it had felt as if a piece of the puzzle was suddenly back in place. He didn't know what the surrounding puzzle pieces looked like, but that one piece was there and he _knew_ it was right. He had known the moment she had said his name that she was not lying. What a strange woman. What a strange place.

* * *

_He actually _**_thanked_**_ me_? Sarah thought, astounded. _For giving him his name_? _And he didn't threaten me with snakes? What strange universe am I in?_

She told the hospital staff what little she could about Jareth ("'Jareth?' What a lovely name," the head nurse had told her), asked them if it was still necessary for him to have handcuffs on, and turned to leave. After a moment's thought, she turned back around and gave the receptionist at the desk her name and phone number. Just in case, she told herself.

_Just in case of what? _her brain asked her, but she did not know. Sarah drove home, undressed, and collapsed into bed, mentally and physically exhausted, and too tired to try to work any of the day's events out in her mind.

_

* * *

_

_Please review!_


	4. Chapter 3

"I felt a little fear upon my back,  
I said, 'don't look back,  
Just keep on walkin'"

KT Tunstall, "Black horse and the Cherry Tree"

Chapter 3:

Saturday morning she woke with a start from an odd dream. As she struggled to recall the dream, it slipped away from her like fog. She was showered, completely dressed, and pouring a bowl of cereal before the previous day's events hit her like a ton of bricks.

_Jareth? Here? _Really? _No way, it had to have been a dream.._

She ran to her tv and clicked it on to the news channel to see if there was anything about him. Nothing at the moment. Too impatient to sit through the whole program to wait for anything that might be on, she flipped to the other news channel. This one was more of a gossip-type "news" channel that usually specialized in celebrity scandals, but it often covered big local events like this too. To her surprise, she flipped the channel and was met with a still photo of herself, hand tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she spoke to the woman at the hospital desk.

_What the..? Who took that?_

"..taken yesterday as she came forward to ID the unknown man that was admitted to Saint Mary's several days ago," the news reporter said. "The two spoke in the man's hospital room for some time, then the woman left before being identified. Sources tell us that these two may possibly be lovers, separated by fate and unknown circumstances.."

Sarah snorted, and shut the tv off. Boy, these people didn't even know who she was, and her face was already splashed all over the news, _and _she was being falsely labeled as Jareth's lover to boot! She shook her head. Still, she'd seen something that proved yesterday wasn't all a dream.

She walked back to the kitchen to retrieve her now soggy bowl of cereal, then paused. Since everything yesterday _was _real, should she go back to the hospital today to see him again?

And, more importantly, did she _want _to go back and see him again?

* * *

Sarah did decide to go back to the hospital that morning to see Jareth.

_Only because I have the day off. I'm just going to find out why he showed up here_, she told herself. _Not that he'll likely remember why_, she thought wryly.

_You're lucky he didn't simply kidnap you yesterday and pop over to that labyrinth of his_, the paranoid half of her mind told her.

_But then, you would be able to see the friends who helped you on your journey again_, the more rational half of her mind replied.

"I'm going crazy," she muttered to herself. Only she would sit here and argue with herself over a journey that may or may not have been partly made up by her overactive imagination.

Before she knew it, she was climbing out of her car in the parking garage, speaking with the receptionist at the front desk, and then was standing before his hospital room door once again.

It was shut. Should she knock? Or just walk in? She looked over at the receptionist at the desk who smiled prettily and made shooing motions at her, then returned to answering phone calls. Sarah wondered if she had seen the news and assumed Sarah was some long-lost lover. She snorted, took a deep breath, rapped on the door to announce her presence, and walked inside.

She was surprised to see that Jareth was sleeping when she entered the room, and more importantly, was no longer handcuffed to the bed. She debated leaving for a moment before she saw an empty chair, pushed out of the way, over by the window. One of the hospital staff must have decided that since he now had a visitor coming to see him, he deserved a chair in his room. She looked back at Jareth, looking so harmless. Making up her mind, she quietly tiptoed over to the chair and eased herself into it as quietly as possible.

Having not brought anything with her to do while she waited on him to wake, Sarah sat and just looked about the room. The glass of water she had brought him yesterday was still sitting, untouched, on the nightstand. One of the nurses had written "Hello, your name is Jareth," on the message board by the door, which Sarah thought was comical until she realized that it may have been a very necessary thing to do. What if he couldn't remember being told his name just the day before? Would he remember her at all today?

She looked again at Jareth, who was curled up in a ball under the covers. He looked cold; even though it was well into spring, he was nearly buried under all the covers they had placed on his bed to keep him warm. His hand with the IV in it was sticking out from under the blankets, and every now and again a finger would twitch in his sleep. His face looked lined, aged from how she remembered him looking.

Sarah wasn't sure how long she sat there, watching him sleep, but she was almost falling asleep herself when the covers on the bed suddenly exploded, alarms started going off, and Jareth came running towards her.

_See! He's finally decided to kidnap you!_

She let out a shriek, closed her eyes and scrunched up into a ball to protect herself just as she realized that Jareth wasn't running _at _her, he had just run _past_ her. Heart beating wildly, she opened her eyes just as three of the hospital's staff came charging into his room. They saw the empty bed, and Sarah pointed towards the connected bathroom door. They filed in and Sarah could hear arguments among Jareth and the staff as they tried to get him back into his bed. When she heard Jareth angrily exclaim that "I can bloody well urinate by myself!" she decided to go wait out in the hallway until the had him settled.

A few minutes later, two of the three staff members left the room and told Sarah she could go back in. The third, older nurse was re-administering a new IV, this time on Jareth's other hand, since he had apparently ripped out the first one in his haste to get to the bathroom. Sarah walked back in just as the nurse was finishing up.

"Now you stay in bed," she scolded Jareth. "You won't like where I'll have to poke you if you rip this IV out too!" She smiled at Sarah as she entered. "Sorry about all of the alarms, dear- they go off whenever he gets out of bed. You'll keep him put, won't you?"

"I'll try," Sarah offered, unsure how successful she would be in keeping Jareth where he was supposed to be. The nurse nodded and left the room.

Jareth looked at Sarah, who was suddenly overcome with a bout of nervousness.

_Did I actually _squeak? _God, this is embarrassing. _Sarah finally found her voice.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I am fine." Jareth replied shortly. Sarah wasn't sure, but she thought he was a bit embarrassed by the little scene that had just played out. Perhaps a bit of his ego was still there, after all.

"Do you remember me, Jareth?"

"Of course I remember you, Sarah," Jareth replied evenly. He looked confused as to why she would ask him this, when she had just told him her name the day before.

She nodded, and pointed to the yellow "FALL" bracelet on his wrist. "What's that for?"

He looked at her, and for a moment she was unsure if he would answer her question.

"I fell," he finally answered. Sarah couldn't hide the look of concern that came over her face.

"I'm sorry, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It wasn't my fault. I was in the.. shower.. the first day I was brought here, and that- contraption- startled me when it turned on, and I fell. They've been treating me like an infant since."

"But that is kind of their job, Jareth. They're supposed to take care of everybody who is here."

"Perhaps, but being bedridden is just… maddening. Not being able to do anything that you used to do-" he broke off and Sarah realized that it was because he _had _no idea what he used to do. "-That you need to do.." he finished.

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Why did you come back?" Jareth asked suddenly. Sarah stared at him, taken aback.

"I.. Well.." Sarah took a deep breath. "I wanted to find out why you returned to New York."

Jareth shook his head. "I have no idea."

Sarah nodded to herself, as if expecting this answer. Jareth looked at her with his head cocked to one side.

"You mean, I'm not from this area?" he asked her.

"Um.. No."

"Oh." He frowned slightly. "Then where am I from?"

"From someplace far away from here, I'm not sure exactly." _Not technically a lie_, she thought. "Look," she sat forward in her chair, hands clasped. "How much do you really want to know, because you probably won't believe half of what I tell you anyways."

Jareth studied her face for a moment, then shrugged. "If I won't believe you, then don't tell me," he replied simply.

Sarah nodded. "Fair enough." She sat back in her chair.

The silence grew again.

Sarah noticed the cup of lukewarm water again, and picked it up and took it in to the bathroom. She returned with a new cup of cold water and set it down on the nightstand again with a small smile, then took her seat in the chair by the window.

"You know, that IV they have in your arm is just saline."

Jareth looked at her, one eyebrow raised, and she could practically hear his thoughts. _Ivy?  
_  
Without thinking, she reached out towards him and he flinched, jerking away from her faster than a rattlesnake could bite. She stopped, and met his eyes.

"It's alright, Jareth," she told him calmly, hand still outstretched.

He watched her, his eyes darting back and forth between hers, a wary expression on his face. When he finally relaxed and gave her a small, slow nod, she moved her hand forward to gently touch the tube that was inserted into the back of his wrist. His skin felt very warm to the touch, as if he had a fever.

"This is an IV- it's just fluids," she told him, then eased back into her chair. "If you would drink regular old water, they wouldn't have to have that stuck in you."

Jareth looked at her, to the needle stuck into his hand, then to the cup of water which still sat on the nightstand where she had placed it. He made no move to pick it up, but Sarah could tell he was considering her words. They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes until the older nurse walked back into the room.

"Jareth, it's time for your shower. Up you get, I'm to help you again," she said as she entered. Jareth looked at her rebelliously and Sarah's eyebrows raised.

"I think it's time for me to go," she said quickly, definitely unwilling to listen to him grumble that he 'could bloody well shower by himself,' too, today.

"Oh, don't leave on my account," the nurse told her. "I can have him in and out in no time flat."

Sarah was already grabbing her purse and jacket as she stood. "No, that's okay, really." She looked to Jareth, who suddenly had an apprehensive look on his face. Sarah wondered why.

"Bye," she said with a small wave, then turned and left his room.

* * *

That night, Sarah did not sleep well. She kept having nightmares about Jareth, and when she suddenly woke in a panic in the middle of the night, with tears in her eyes, she was surprised to remember that they weren't nightmares about him kidnapping herself or Toby, or leaving her to rot in the bottom of a dark oubliette somewhere.

They were nightmares about him dying in the hospital.

* * *

Author's Note: Ooh, Sarah's actually afraid of Jareth dying in the hospital? Can it be that our spoiled little teenager has grown up, matured, and -gasp- may actually have feelings for our displaced Goblin King?

Please review.


	5. Chapter 4

When the road looks rough ahead  
and you're miles and miles  
from your nice warm bed  
you just remember what your old pal said  
boy, you got a friend in me

"Toy Story" soundtrack

Chapter 4:

Late Sunday morning, Sarah was woken by her phone ringing. Tired, she groaned and rolled over in bed, pulling the covers up over her head to ineffectively try to block the noise. It rang a few more times, and as she belatedly remembered that she had given her number to the nurses at the hospital, she rolled back over and quickly fumbled for the phone.

"Hello! I'm here! Is he okay?" she said without thinking.

"Sarah?" Chrissy's voice on the other end of the line sounded confused.

"Oh. Chrissy." Sarah rubbed her face with her hand, trying to wake up. "Sorry, I thought you were the hospital calling."

"The hospital? Are you okay? Sarah, _what is going on_? Why is your photo on the news?" Chrissy sounded concerned, as if she was about to hear that her best friend had just robbed a bank. Sarah groaned.

_Damn tv reporters_..

"No, Chrissy, I'm fine, it's okay."

"Good. God, I was so scared when I saw you on there!" Her friend sounded relieved. "Why are they saying you and some guy from the hospital are lovers?" She actually sounded a bit hurt, as if Sarah had neglected to tell her this juicy bit of gossip over work on Friday.

"No, Chrissy-" Sarah sighed, rolling her eyes. "They've got it all wrong, we're not lovers or anything; I barely know the man." Sarah rolled out of bed and walked to her closet.

"What's going on then?"

"I.. I met him once, and when I saw him on the news, I went to go tell the hospital who he is so they can help him."

"Oh." Chrissy sounded intrigued. "So how do you know him? Who is he?"

"Well.." Sarah couldn't really tell her the truth, her friend would think she'd gone crazy. "We met when I was younger. He was an acquaintance of my family's." She grimaced, hoping Chrissy would never actually ask her family about it.

"So are you going back to see him?" her friend asked her slyly.

"Uh, I don't know," Sarah replied, though she was already laying out clean clothes on the bed to get dressed so she could go back to the hospital. "Look, Chrissy, I've got to go, can I talk to you at work tomorrow?"

"Sure," her friend replied, "but I want a full report," she finished smugly.

* * *

A little bit later, once again, Sarah found herself driving to the hospital, reflecting on the nightmares she'd had the previous night. The hospital surely would have called her if anything had happened to Jareth, but she could not get past the sense of foreboding she had. Once she parked her car, she nearly ran inside the hospital, past the nurses' desk, and to Jareth's room.

The door was closed again, so she knocked on the heavy door and held her breath for what seemed like an eternity.  
_  
He's just sleeping, he's just sleeping..  
_  
"Come in," Jareth said, and Sarah's knees nearly buckled with relief. Why had she been so worried?

"Hi," she said as she entered the room. Jareth was dressed in a light green hospital gown and pants today, and was sitting up in bed, though he still had a mountain of covers over his legs to keep him warm.

"You came back," Jareth said when he saw her. The bandage around his head slid down over his eyes, and when he pushed it back up, she could see that he looked surprised.

"Of course I did," Sarah said as she crossed the room and set her purse and jacket down in the empty chair by the window. Seemingly out of habit, she picked up the still-full plastic cup of water off his nightstand, and took it into the bathroom again.

"You came back," he said to her again, as if still struggling with the thought. "Why?"

"I already told you yesterday," she replied as she returned from the bathroom, noticing his bandage had fallen again, "to find out-"

"No," Jareth interrupted her as he irritably pushed the bandage back up. "Why did you _really_ come back? You know I don't remember anything." He met her gaze steadily, today, she noticed. "Why do you keep coming to see me?"

Caught unaware by his question, Sarah had to close her mouth, which was hanging agape.

"I.." She furrowed her brow. She knew he didn't remember why he came to New York. So why had she returned again? He had not asked her to keep coming back.

She set the new cup of water on his nightstand and walked over to him, swatting his hands away from the bandage he kept fiddling with. She started to unwind it so she could remove it.

"I.. I guess I keep coming back because.."

Jareth looked at her, his expression guarded, as he waited patiently for her reply.

"Because.. when I saw your face on the news, I saw the terrified expression in your eyes. Because I'm likely the only person in the entire _world_ right now who knows who you are… and I guess, because, if our situations were reversed, I would want someone to come who knew _me_. I wouldn't want to be left alone in a world that was new and frightening, with no one I could turn to for help- "

_God, he must be so frightened, _Sarah thought_. The poor man has no idea who he is, where he is, even why he is here, and all that he can remember was getting ambushed in the streets by cops, then drug to the hospital where they sedated him and ran all sorts of tests on him.. At least I had all of my mental capabilities, as well as friends to help me, during my journey…_

Jareth heard the sympathy in her voice, felt the tenderness in the movement of her hands, and knew this was not a woman who was out to harm him. He still may not really know who she was, but she had repeatedly come here to try to help him in whatever way she could. Even though she was clearly uncomfortable here. Uncomfortable around _him_. For the millionth time, he found himself wondering why.

Sarah looked down to see Jareth staring intently at her.

"How did you know me?" he asked quietly.

Sarah met his gaze as she continued to unwind the gauze, unsure of how to answer this question.

"Were we friends?" he asked her softly.

"I don't know," she said with a sad little shrug. "I.. I really didn't know you," she finally admitted. Finished with removing his pesky bandage, she threw the gauze into the trashcan and smoothed down the hair that had stuck up at odd angles under the bandage. The cuts looked mostly healed, she noticed.

"I only knew you for a short time," she said as she returned to her empty chair by the window, "and we were never really given the chance to get to know each other. I really don't know anything about you." She met his gaze again, and was startled to remember how beautiful his eyes really were, even when they held as much uncertainty and fear as they did.

"I think we would have been friends," he whispered, and gave her a small smile. In the first real show of trust he had shown since meeting her, he slowly reached forward, picked up the plastic cup of water she had brought him, and drank it all.

* * *

Some time later, Sarah's stomach grumbled audibly. She'd really only eaten a small, soggy bowl of cereal earlier before coming to the hospital.

"Gosh, I need to get something to eat," she said absently. "I wonder where the cafeteria is?"

Jareth shrugged. He'd only been in his room, aside from having tests run when he arrived. He didn't remember much of the first day because of the drugs they had administered to him.

"Hang tight for a minute, I'm going to go talk to the nurse," Sarah said, and walked out of the room, her hand brushing his toes under the blankets on the bed as she left.

Jareth wiggled the toes she had touched with a small smile. He really had no idea who Sarah was, but she seemed to be telling him the truth regarding their past, at least what of it she knew. And it was enormously comforting to have _someone_ who knew him, even in this small, fragile way, in an alien world of strangers.

Of the past few days that he could remember, no one had treated him with an ounce of honest concern for his emotional or mental wellbeing, except Sarah. Even something as simple as bringing him a glass of water, explaining what an "eyevee" was, expressing concern when he told her that he had fallen.. It was like having an anchor to hold your ship safe during a storm at sea.

He had a feeling she was reluctant to talk about their past for some reason, but why? He looked out the window to the sprawling, noisy city beneath him, and waited for Sarah to return.


	6. Chapter 5

Author's Note:  
Happy Easter everyone! Thought I would update so you have a little something in your basket for today. ;)  
Thanks everyone for all the story alerts and favorites! It's been so hard to try to keep Jareth in character when he's not his normal, arrogant, goblin-kicking self, but I must be doing something right if so many people want to come back to this story. :) I hope you are all enjoying it!

* * *

Now that I know what I'm without  
You can't just leave me  
Breathe into me  
Make me real  
Bring me to life

Evanescence, "Bring Me to Life"

Chapter 5:

Sarah left the room and headed towards the nurse's desk. It was odd being here with Jareth. It was like hanging out with an old acquaintance, someone you knew well enough to know what to expect of them, but it was also still like they were meeting for the very first time. It was a really odd feeling.

"Excuse me," Sarah leaned over the desk to try to catch the attention of one of the nurses on staff. One finished relaying orders to the next nurse coming on shift and came over to the desk. "Hi. My name's Sarah Williams, I'm-"

"You're Jareth's friend," the nurse nodded with a warm smile. "What can I do for you?"

"Please, I need to get something to eat. Could you tell me where the cafeteria is?" The nurse nodded and gave Sarah step by step instructions to find her way through the enormous hospital. As Sarah turned to leave, she had a thought.

"Oh! Ma'am?" The nurse at the counter turned back to her. "I wondered if I might be able to.." 

* * *

Sarah returned to Jareth's room with empty hands, and the older nurse trailing along behind her.

"I thought you were going to get something to eat?" Jareth asked her as he eyed the nurse suspiciously. Sarah noticed that he didn't particularly seem to like or trust any of the nurses or doctors she had seen him interact with. She didn't really understand why, they all seemed pleasant enough. Maybe it was just people in general- he hadn't trusted her to begin with either, and that trust was just now growing.

_Kind of._

"It's your lucky day, Jareth. I talked the staff into letting you go on a walk with me down to the cafeteria, if you think you're up for it." She smiled at him.

Jareth looked from her to the nurse. "I thought I was forbidden to leave?"

The nurse nodded. "Yes, and if you leave again without my permission I'll skin you alive," she teased him, "but Sarah here seems to think that you only fell the other day because you were startled. I have to admit you seemed stable enough yesterday.." The nurse arched her eyebrows. "She's also promised us that if we remove your IV, she'll make sure that you drink enough to not need it."

Jareth looked at Sarah with the first glimmerings of hope she had seen yet. She knew he hated the thing, as well as being stuck in bed.

"Now, we're going to administer one more round of fluid, then as long as you're drinking enough, we'll take the IV out," the nurse said as she switched out the nearly empty bag of saline fluid for a new one. "You're to stay with Sarah, and mind her- this girl's your guardian angel if you ask me- and you're definitely not allowed to leave the hospital. If you start to feel weak or dizzy, let her know immediately so she can get help and sit down so you don't fall. I don't expect you to have any problems, but if you pass out on us now, you're going to be stuck here a lot longer."

She handed Jareth a pair of slippers with tread on the bottom, helped him to his feet, then waved Sarah over to stand next to him, in case he became unsteady.

"Off you get, then," the nurse said.

* * *

The pair made their way, a little awkwardly at first, down the hall, with Sarah on Jareth's left side, and him hanging on to the stand that the saline bag hung from on his right side. They made it down the elevator (Sarah noticed this new movement gave Jareth a bit of a start), and were headed down the hallway through the ER area when several people rushed in pushing a gurney with a man on it, bleeding profusely from one leg.

Jareth jumped in shock and backed up against the wall as they made their way past in a rush. He seemed so scared by the sight, Sarah touched his hand in concern.

"Jareth, are you okay? Should we go back upstairs?"

He stood, staring down the hallway until they disappeared around a corner.

"What was wrong with that man?" Jareth asked her, he sounded terrified. Sarah shrugged.

"It looks like he might have been shot in the leg. I'm sure he'll be okay."

"No," Jareth said, shaking his head. "What was that.. that stuff?"

"What stuff?" Sarah reviewed the image in her mind.

"The red stuff," he still sounded horrified.

"Jareth," Sarah said slowly, "That's _blood_. You've never seen it before?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so. I don't remember ever seeing something like that."

"Don't worry, it looks scary but I'm sure that man will be just fine. Come on," Sarah shook his hand a little to get his attention. "Let's keep going."

Jareth nodded, and looked down at her hand clasped in his, as if noticing it for the first time. He grasped her hand a little more firmly, and they kept walking.

They made it the rest of the way to the cafeteria without incident.

* * *

"Do you want to sit down, while I get you something to eat? The nurse said it would be good if you ate something."

Jareth shook his head as he looked around at the other people in the room anxiously.

"I would rather come with you," he said, looking at her.

"That's fine," she nodded, wondering why he was nervous with so many people around. Perhaps it was because, as King of the Goblins, he didn't normally interact much with people. Perhaps it was just because of his amnesia. "Do you know what you want to eat?"

Jareth looked around at the various items in metal chafing dishes and shook his head. "I'm not sure what any of this is," he said, completely serious. The serving woman behind the counter laughed.

"Don't worry honey, I don't think we know either," she replied with a chuckle. "You just get a little bit of everything and tell the cashier what room number you're in." She looked at Sarah. "Sorry, honey, you've got to pay for yours but I would try the lasagna, it's the best item on the menu."

Sarah thanked the woman, picked up some lasagna for herself (Jareth did not want to try any), and a few different items for Jareth, went through the cashier's line (Jareth seemed puzzled by the plastic card Sarah gave the woman), then they sat down across from each other at a corner table to eat.

The woman behind the counter was right, Sarah thought, the lasagna here was heavenly, and the portion they gave her was huge. She watched as Jareth seemed to pick at his food with his fork, tasting a few things, but not really eat anything.

"Aren't you going to eat? They made it sound like you haven't eaten a thing since you were brought here."

Jareth shook his head. "I haven't," he admitted.

Sarah looked at him, exasperated. "Well, why not?"

Jareth shrugged. "I haven't felt like it. Nothing has tasted good, besides."

Sarah stared at the man across from her, wondering how he had gone from the proud, arrogant ruler she knew years ago, to where he was now; lonely, anxious, and maybe even a bit depressed. Aside from the physical similarity, she would have sworn she was sitting with an entirely different person. She looked around the room before she hunched over towards Jareth.

"Jareth, what's wrong with you?"

"Aside from not knowing who I am, being kept against my will in a strange place, and not knowing anyone here?" He stared at her, his face expressionless. "I'm peachy-keen," he added sarcastically. Sarah thought he must have heard that expression since he was brought here, as she could not picture him using it before.

"You _know_ who you are," she offered, "and you know me."

"I know _my_ _name_, not who I am." He shrugged. As sweet as Sarah had been to him, Jareth thought it would be too rude to point out that he didn't really know who she was.

"Why don't you like any of your nurses or doctors?"

"Why _would_ I?" he said, his voice raised slightly in frustration. "These people come in your room and act kindly towards you, but they truly have their own priorities and schedules to deal with, and they just act as if they are concerned while you are in the room, and then they leave. Nobody cares." He waved a hand, indicating the whole building.

"I care," Sarah blurted out.

Jareth looked at her and she blushed furiously, deciding it was a good time to stare down at her lasagna.

_My word, _Jareth thought. _Was this woman actually __**attracted **__to him?_ He recalled earlier how she had curled up into a ball when he had run past her to the facilities. Was she frightened of him also? She was an enigma wrapped in a mystery, this one was.

"Thank you, Sarah. I guess let's just say I haven't had much to fight for," he finished quietly. Sarah jumped a little bit as he suddenly leaned forward towards her.

"Why did you act afraid when I ran past you yesterday?"

Sarah choked on her lasagna. "Excuse me?"

"You're jumpy. Why do you act afraid of me?" he stared at her intently. "Have I ever hurt you before?"

Sarah looked down at her plate again. "Let's not talk about the past," she said. She _so_ did not want to bring back any memories that would trigger a fight-or-flight reaction in Jareth.

Jareth's face fell. "I have hurt you, haven't I?" Sarah looked up at his crestfallen expression. "I did.. and I can't even remember it."

Sarah was reminded of the dejected look he had had when she refused the crystal he had offered her years ago as the clock struck thirteen. Had there been something more in that expression than just disappointment at losing Toby? Too bad she couldn't just ask him now..

Greatly daring, Sarah tentatively reached out and put her hand over his, and was glad to see that he didn't jump or pull away from her.

"Look, I'm not so sure that I didn't hurt _you_ the last time we met. Let's just agree that whatever happened in the past will stay there, until you can remember it, okay?"

Jareth looked at her, hope growing in his eyes a little. He nodded.

"Do you want to try some of my lasagna?" Sarah asked him, trying to change the subject. "It's delicious."

Jareth was about to politely say no when he saw the look in her eyes, the look of someone trying to make a new path forward out of the thorny tangle that was their past.

"Okay, I'll try a bite," he offered.

* * *

It turned out that Jareth loved Sarah's lasagna, and glad he was finally eating something, she'd happily shared her plate with him until they'd finished it all.

Sarah took a sip from her glass of water then nearly choked as she noticed Jareth staring intently at her.

"What?" she asked him.

He tried not to grin at her as he acted like he was wiping something away from the corner of his mouth.

"Oh," Sarah caught on, and dabbed at her face with a napkin. "Did I get it?"

"No," he shook his head a little, and Sarah wiped at her face again. Jareth smiled and leaned forward, reaching out with his napkin to carefully wipe away red sauce at the corner of her mouth.

"Thanks," she said.

Jareth was amused to see how she blushed prettily and could not meet his gaze for a few moments.

"You're welcome."

Afterwards, they had taken care of their dishes and made their way back up to Jareth's room. He had just gotten settled back into bed when a nurse poked her head inside the door and beckoned to Sarah.

"Hmm, I wonder what she wants? I'll be right back," Sarah told Jareth, and followed the nurse out into the hallway and closed the door. The nurse looked unhappy as she met Sarah in the hallway.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news," she said, "but I've just been told that we cannot keep Jareth here any longer. He simply doesn't have any medical reason for the doctors to detain him."

Sarah nodded.

"Normally, if he were just homeless, we would release him to one of the city's local shelters for assistance, but as he is now.." Sarah knew she meant the amnesia. "As is, we will have to admit him to one of the mental hospitals."

"But you can't lock him up, just because he can't remember who he is!" Sarah argued as her heart twinged a bit inside her chest. He was just beginning to trust _one_ person, they couldn't throw him into an entirely new, frightening place!

From inside the room, Jareth heard Sarah's voice raise as she spoke. He looked toward the door.

"But the city _will_," the nurse continued consolingly. "He's a danger to himself and others, wandering the city as he was. Unless we can release him to his family-"

"I'll take him." Sarah blurted out. "Release him to me. I'm the closest thing he's got to family right now, and no one else has come forward to claim him have they?"

"Miss Williams-"

"No, look-" Sarah brushed her hair back from her forehead as she tried to keep from snapping at the woman. "Jareth is mentally capable of making his own decisions, right?"

The nurse nodded.

"Okay. So leave it up to him then; would he rather be turned away to yet another new, strange place, or be placed with the _one _person he's begun to trust at all?"

"I'd rather go with Sarah."

Both Sarah and the nurse spun around, surprised to hear Jareth's voice directly behind them. He was standing in the open doorway, clutching the IV stand he had trailed along with him. "You're not supposed to be out of bed-" the nurse started reprimanding him.

"I want to go with Sarah," Jareth interrupted her. "I'll not be locked up like a criminal because of this," he said, the tone of his voice the closest to the old Goblin King that Sarah had heard yet. She suppressed a shiver.

The nurse looked at him, a bit shocked, then nodded, and went off to the nurses desk.

"Jareth, you better get back into bed before they get upset again," Sarah told him.

"They deemed me fit enough to go downstairs," he started to argue, but Sarah's hand on his arm stopped him.

"I know," she gave him a small smile. "I'll take care of this, okay?"

Jareth nodded, then returned to his room once more. Sarah closed her eyes and sank back against the wall behind her, a little overwhelmed.

_Great, _she thought anxiously, _you __**always**__ have to play the role of the princess in shining armor and save those who need it. Go rescue Toby (because it's your fault he was taken), go release the giant, toothed beast (that could have gotten you killed!), go save the amnesiatic man because he's beautiful and magical (and oh yeah, by the way, let's hope he doesn't murder you in your sleep!)_

She truly felt that Jareth did not know who he was- this was not an act- but what if he had come back to New York to exact revenge on her? What if he suddenly regained his memory? She had just invited a man into her house, and was unsure if she would end up with Jareth, or the Goblin King...

* * *

Author's Note II:

So? Is Jareth faking so he can turn super-evil once he's gotten her into his clutches? Or is he truly helpless right now? What do you all think? Please R&R.


	7. Chapter 6

Hello again everyone. Here is your next bit of the story. Forgive me for going a bit longer than normal without updating- no air conditioning in my office, and it's a million degrees in there when it gets hot out, so I've only been in for short periods of time lately. More as soon as I can! Enjoy!

* * *

"Li'l Red Riding Hood"  
Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs

Chapter 6:

The nurse had the doctor's signoff on the paperwork for Jareth's release done faster than Sarah would have ever thought possible. They had removed Jareth's IV, had him dressed in a pair of sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and a pair of inexpensive tennis shoes (Sarah wondered where these all had came from, as they were obviously not Goblin King wear), and had him wheeled out of the hospital to her car in no time flat.

_That's go to be a record_, Sarah thought wryly, as she helped Jareth tackle the seatbelt in the car, then pulled out of the hospital parking garage. She turned the radio on, hoping to help soothe her racing mind.

"_Owooooooo_!" she shivered as a man's voice belted out a wolf howl over the radio. "_What big eyes you have, the kind of eyes that drive wolves mad,_" Sarah relaxed a bit as she recognized the song. Sam the Sham. Gotta love him.

"_What full lips you have, they're sure to lure someone bad. So until you get to Grandma's place, I think you ought to walk with me and be saaaafe.. I'm gonna keep my sheep suit on, until I'm sure that you've been shown, that I can be trusted, walkin with you alone. Owooooo!_"

Sarah flicked the radio off. She normally loved that song, but the lyrics were striking a bit too close to home for her at the moment. She was still uneasy about inviting a man into her home who could turn out to be the wolf as easily as he could the sheep. She pushed the thought from her mind.

There was so much she was going to have to do now that Jareth would be staying with her; she had to make up a place for him on the couch to sleep, go grocery shopping since there wasn't much in the pantry or the fridge at the moment, she'd have to go clothes shopping with him so he had more than this one pair of things to wear..

_Oh, God, am I going to have to take him shopping for underwear_? She thought suddenly, wondering what sort of things he normally wore under those skin-tight pants he seemed to favor in the past. She snuck a glance over at him, sitting in the passenger seat, looking out the window. He looked so odd, dressed in sweatpants, wearing tennis shoes, with his hair pulled back into a ponytail for now.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Jareth asked her quietly.

"Hmm?" She pulled her mind out of picturing him in either boxers or briefs and made herself focus on the present. "Is what okay?"

"Staying with you," he told her. "I don't want to be a burden. Perhaps I should go to that shelter the woman spoke of-"

"No, Jareth, it's not that simple. If someone's not around to help you, the city will put you back in another type of hospital. They'll basically lock you up. I can't let them do that," she told him.

"Oh," he said. "Is that what they do with people here? Lock them up if they cannot care for themselves?" he asked.

"No, we have different types of places that people can normally get help from if they need it. You are.. your case is just special, I guess. We don't get people wandering around who don't know who they are, or how to function in society."

Jareth stared out the window, and Sarah could sense that he felt very out of place. She leaned over and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"It'll be okay," she told him. "I promise."

He looked back at Sarah and nodded, then returned to looking out the window.

_At least he doesn't look as frightened as he did the first day I saw him_, she thought.

"Well, here we are," Sarah told him, pulling into a parking spot outside of Walmart.

"You live here?" Jareth asked, sounding slightly awed.

"What? No," Sarah smiled. "We've got to get you some more clothes, and groceries, then we'll head home."

"Oh."

After she showed him how to pull the lever to open the door, they got out of the car and walked towards the entrance, the sky overhead already turning a stormy gray color.

Sarah took a cart inside, and with Jareth following along, immediately headed for the men's clothing department.

As she browsed the clothes, trying to find some things suitable for Jareth, she noticed a few people pointing and staring, but she was not sure if that was because people recognized them from the news, or if it was because of Jareth's behavior. Curious why they were staring, she turned around to find Jareth, shirtless, trying on a new shirt in the middle of the store.

"Jareth!" she hissed, blushing as the people snickered. "What are you doing- _put your clothes back on!_"

"I thought we were here to try on clothes," he said as he buttoned up the new shirt he had on. "Do you want me to take it back off?" he offered, starting to undo the top buttons.

"No- just-" Sarah turned him around to face the dressing rooms. "Go in there, and try these other shirts on. If they fit, and you like them, put them in one pile. Put everything else in another pile. Put your old shirt back on when you come out, okay?"

Jareth nodded, and went into the dressing room carrying several shirts.

_It's like having a child_, Sarah thought as she ran one hand through her hair. _You can't turn your back for a second_! She tried not to blush as she remembered how exquisite his bare body had looked. _And you only saw half of it!_

Sarah found a few pairs of pants that she thought would fit Jareth, and passed them to him above the door so he could try them on also. A little while later, he reemerged with several pants and shirts that fit well, he said.

"Here, I wanted to see if this fit you, too," she said, and held up a heavy-weight jacket she had found on clearance. It was actually leather, so she hoped it would help to keep him warmer. She held it up as he shrugged his arms into it.

"Does it fit okay?" she asked, and he nodded. It looked _really_ good on him. Black and leather seemed to be one of the many looks he pulled off well.

_Hell, he could probably pull off __**any**__ look._

They continued on to pick up some socks for him, and she helped him to find a new pair of better shoes. When they finally got to the underwear area, Sarah blushed madly, and just grabbed a few pairs of boxers and a couple packages of briefs, and tossed them into the cart.

"Don't I need to try those on?" Jareth asked, pointing.

"You can just try them on later at home," Sarah said, and they kept moving towards the grocery half of the store.

They stood in front of the produce area and stopped, as Sarah remembered from the hospital how picky Jareth apparently was when it came to food.

"Jareth, do you remember any foods you like to eat? Besides lasagna?"

He shook his head.

"Okay," Sarah sighed. "I guess if you see anything let me know, otherwise we'll try making a lot of different things to start out with to see what you do like."

They went through the produce section slowly, since neither of them really knew what they were after. Sarah noticed Jareth grab some fruit- a few apples and peaches- and add them to the cart while muttering something about remembering those. Sarah picked up some assorted vegetables, figuring she could make a roast for dinner at some point. She smiled a little when Jareth returned to her carrying a single banana, a curious expression on his face as he carefully added it to his collection of apples and peaches. She guessed he had never seen one before.

They turned down the meat aisle and after passing rows and rows of cuts of meat in Styrofoam trays, Jareth's eyes lit up when he saw the packaged Cornish game hens.

"Chicken!" he exclaimed and grabbed one. "I remember these," he offered. "They weren't this small though," he frowned as he inspected them further.

"Okay, a little further up there are some bigger chickens." Sarah said, thinking too of how expensive the Cornish ones were. "Let's get one of those." Jareth nodded, so they added one to the cart.

They went through the middle of the store and picked up some things Sarah knew they would need; toilet paper, bread, milk, some juice, a can of chicken broth, and eggs. She passed a tempting-looking display of baked desserts, and put a pound cake and a tub of whipped cream in the cart also.

As they passed the housewares department on the way to the registers, Sarah saw a display of electric blankets, on sale because winter was over and no one wanted to buy them any more. She looked over at Jareth, who was actually shivering in the light air conditioning the store already had going in preparation for summer. She flinched at the price of the blanket, even on sale, but added one to her cart, knowing Jareth would probably need it.

_As cold as he seems to get, should I give him the bed so I can pile him up with covers_? _They would slide right off the couch. _

Hoping they had gotten everything they would need, they made their way to the registers and unloaded everything to pay. Sarah browsed the impulse items at the register and quickly tossed in a toothbrush for him as well.

Jareth, once again, was intrigued by Sarah's debit card, so she let him swipe it through the machine. The cashier stared at them as if they were both crazy as Sarah helped Jareth punch in her pin numbers, but she didn't care; they loaded up their bags and headed back out to the car. Thunder rumbled in the distance as they piled the plastic bags into her trunk and then left.

* * *

By the time they arrived at her apartment, it had started pouring, and lightning flashed and thunder boomed overhead. They quickly got out of the car, grabbed all their bags from the trunk, and ran in through the main door of the apartment building.

"Phew! I thought we might get washed away," Sarah joked to Jareth as they turned and headed up the set of stairs to the second story. He didn't seem very happy, he looked rather like a drowned cat, with his soaking hair all plastered to his face. Once they got to her apartment, she dug her keys out of her purse and unlocked the door. She flipped the light switch by the door and ran inside to set the groceries down on the kitchen counter, then came back and took the ones Jareth had carried in.

"Well, here it is," she told him as she quickly put away the cold groceries. "It's not much, but it works for me." She stacked up the clothes they had just bought on the counter, then threw away all the plastic bags that littered the counter, and hung up their coats by the door. "Let me give you the grand tour," she said, and led him through the small, one-bedroom apartment.

"Look, I've got to get in the shower for work tomorrow, then I can get your new clothes in the washer and make something for dinner," she said as she finished putting away the remaining groceries. "Will you be okay for a few minutes on your own?" Jareth nodded. "Here, I'll turn on some tv for you," she said, picking up the remote. "Use this button if you want to watch a different channel," she showed him, then went to her bedroom to get clothes for after her shower, and disappeared into the bathroom.

Sarah started the shower, undressed, then stood in the hot water, trying to let the heat melt some of her stress away, but it just wasn't helping. What was she going to do? What was she supposed to do with Jareth while she was at work? Could she trust him alone in her apartment? What if he tried to cook something and burned the whole place down? Could he even handle a microwave on his own? She had no idea.

What still worried her more, was what if he suddenly regained all of his memory? What happened if she woke up and the Goblin King was suddenly standing in her room, wanting revenge for a child snatched out of his grasp? For one less goblin to add to his horde?

Sarah sighed. She could only do what she was doing now- take it one day at a time, and do the best she could. For as long as Jareth was how he currently was- completely helpless in this strange world- she could not simply abandon him to be locked away forever in some mental asylum. She owed him that much. Realizing how much time she had wasted just standing in the shower, Sarah quickly washed her hair and got clean, and shut the water off.


	8. Chapter 7

"Baby, if I made you mad  
For something I might have said  
Please, let's forget the past  
The future looks bright ahead"  
Elvis Presley, "Don't be cruel"

Chapter 7:

The bathroom door shut as Sarah went to shower, and Jareth found himself standing alone in the living room. Still wet, he shivered, then kicked his shoes off and set them near the door where Sarah had placed hers. He looked at the tv for a moment, pressed the button Sarah had shown him on the remote a few times, then put the remote down on the couch and started looking around the room.

She had rows of books on shelves above her tv, and Jareth pulled one out of the lineup. _Sleeping Beauty_, it said. Many of the books on the shelf seemed to be books that children would read, and they all looked very worn and used. He figured these must be books from her childhood. He put it back and continued scanning the room. Besides a few pieces of furniture, and another black box with rows and rows of thin square boxes next to it, the livingroom was pretty bare.

He walked down the hallway to the room Sarah had shown him was hers. It was also fairly empty, though she did have a few books in here too, on a desk which held another contraption that looked like her tv, only this one was gray instead of black. He pulled some of these books off of the desk and read the covers. Books on gardening, one on decorating, a small book that had many maps inside it of "New York City and the surrounding area." Nothing particularly interesting. He turned and saw several framed photos on her headboard.

Walking over, he picked the largest one up. It showed Sarah, along with a tall, gray-haired man, a light-haired boy, and a somewhat sour looking woman. Another photo tucked into the corner of the frame showed her with a nicely dressed, dark-haired woman. Her family, he supposed. He set that frame down and picked up another; a photo of Sarah and a shaggy white and gray dog. Jareth stared at the dog and in his memory, he could hear a small, somewhat-shrill voice in his mind saying "Onward, Ambrosius!" amid the sounds of horns and battle. For some reason, Jareth thought the dog should have been wearing a saddle. His forehead wrinkled in thought as he tried to recall a memory that danced out of his grasp, and he set the frame back down. He continued exploring the other items on her headboard.

He picked up a large book that was laying on its side, only to find that the cover opened up to reveal an empty area for storing items. Intrigued, he carefully pulled out the items she had stored inside, and investigated them one at a time. One was a small bottle of a clear liquid, which he replaced without much interest. Another was a package that held many small, round metal-looking tubes that each had a bump on one end. The package had a small photo of a rabbit on it, and Jareth wondered what a rabbit would want with these strange tubes.

He put the package back inside the book and pulled out the last item- a larger item that was somewhat shaped like the tubes, but this was rounded on one end and clearly had a cap on the other end. Curious, he put the book down on Sarah's bed and unwound the cap, opened the larger tube up, and looked inside. He could see the bump-end of another one of those smaller tubes, and another one beneath that.

_So the small tubes go inside the large tube_, Jareth thought. _But then what does the large tube do?_

He replaced the cap back on the end of the tube and twisted to close it, but was surprised when the entire tube started trembling in his hands. Out of surprise, he dropped it on the bed and jerked his hands away from it. He stared at the thing for a moment, and realizing that it was only going to lay there, he picked it back up.

The entire thing vibrated madly in his hands as he stared at it, wondering what it's purpose was. After a few moments, he realized that his hand was quickly starting to become numb from the tube's movements.

"Ah," he said to himself. This must be for relieving pain, if it had the ability to numb where it was pressed. One eyebrow raised, he nodded appreciatively and turned the cap on the end once more, shutting the movement off. He replaced the larger tube inside the empty book, and set the book back on Sarah's headboard. He stood and glanced around the room once more. Having investigated everything that really peaked his interest, he turned and walked back out to the couch.

He sat down on the couch again, and started shivering more.

"Bloody damn rain," he muttered grumpily as he pushed a lock of wet hair out of his eyes, and wondered if Sarah would let him take a shower after she was finished. He hated the feeling of the water in his face, but he longingly recalled how warm the one at the hospital had made him feel, not that the nurses ever gave him any time to enjoy it.

_This is a hospital, not a hotel_, they had told him. Hoping Sarah would allow him to warm up, Jareth waited patiently on the couch for her, shivering as he disinterestedly watched the television.

* * *

Sarah put on her nightshirt, a pair of old shorts, quickly brushed through her tangled hair, and deemed it good enough.

"So what do you want for dinner, Jareth?" she asked as she reemerged from the bathroom. She found Jareth sitting on the couch, still in his wet clothes, shivering violently.

"Jareth, are you alright?" She stopped in her tracks.

He turned to look at her, nodding, but she could see how hard he was fighting to keep from trembling from the cold he felt.

"Good lord," she said as she touched his trembling shoulder. "You're frozen! Come on," she quickly lead him to the bathroom. "I'm such an idiot, I should have made sure you got out of those wet clothes before I showered. I thought you would have wanted to change into one of your new pairs of clothes." She reached behind the curtain and turned on the shower full-blast.

"But you said you had to wash them first," Jareth said, confused.

"Well, yeah, normally I would but that's just to get any extra starch and stuff out of the fabric, I figured I would keep one set out for you." She adjusted the dial on the shower until it was as hot as she could stand without being uncomfortable.

"Oh." He shivered violently again.

"Alright, strip, and get in," Sarah ordered, and for the first time, Jareth protested.

"With you _in here_?" he said through chattering teeth. He hadn't liked being helped at the hospital, and he certainly didn't want to have another person treat him like an infant. This woman had already done more than enough to help him.

"Fine, just get in with your clothes on, and take them off after you close the curtain. I'm not leaving this room until I know you aren't going to pass out or anything." Sarah thought it was a little strange that she felt so protective of him. She barely knew him.

_It's just because he's so helpless_, she told herself. _That's all._

Jareth looked at the flimsy, fish-bedecked plastic curtain doubtfully, but had to admit, that it at least was not transparent like the hospital's had been. He finally nodded, climbed into the shower, hissing at the sudden warmth, and closed the curtain.

"Hand me your clothes up over the shower rod, and I'll put them in the washer too," she said, and Jareth obediently handed her over the sodden clothes. Sarah ran out of the room, dumped them with a sodden _thump_ into the washer, grabbed two more towels out of the small linen closet, and returned to the bathroom.

"You warming up? Feeling better?" she asked, as she closed the toilet lid and sat down while she waited, towels on her lap.

"Yes, this feels marvelous. Much better when there's not someone in the way trying to help you." Sarah saw his hand reach out from the curtain and pick up a purple-colored bottle off the edge of the tub.

"Uh, Jareth- don't use that bottle!" she told him as she heard the snap of the lid opening. She could hear him pause.

"Why not, pray tell?"

"Uh, that's, well, it's dog shampoo. It smells really strong and it will probably strip all of the oil out of your hair too." She saw the hand snake back through the opening and replace the bottle on the tub edge.

"Which one should I use?"

"There's one in there in a pink bottle. It smells flowery but it's at least meant for people." She could hear him snap open the top on the bottle she told him.

"It smells like _roses_," he grumbled quietly. Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Yes, well, I'm sorry I didn't think to buy any shampoo suitable for your _manliness_," she shot back tartly. "Remind me next time we go shopping and you can smell all the shampoos you want." She was surprised by how quiet he was. _Not even a smart reply?_

"I'm sorry," he finally said quietly, and she could smell the scent of roses fill the hot, steamy room.

"_What?_" Sarah asked, surprised. He sounded so.. _meek_. "What are you sorry for?"

"For complaining. It's not fair to you to be ungrateful when you're doing so much to help me."

Sarah sat in silence, stunned. _Who are you and what have you done with the Goblin King?_

"Jareth," she sighed. "I was joking," she said apologetically. "I just didn't think about you not wanting to smell like a flowery old woman. We'll get you something different tomorrow. Don't worry about it."

"Okay," he said quietly. "Thank you."

"No problem."

Sarah sat in silence for a few minutes until she heard the shower knob squeak as Jareth cut the water off.

"All done?" _The man was fast. _Of course, she didn't know how much hot water was left after she had been standing in it so long.

"Yes."

"Okay."

Silence filled the bathroom and suddenly Sarah jumped as she realized what Jareth was waiting for. "Oh!" She blushed. "I'll just go start on something for dinner then," she hastily stood up and placed the towels she'd been holding on the countertop. "Give me one second and I'll leave some new clothes for you outside the door," she told him and scurried out of the room, closing the door behind her.

She rummaged through the new clothes they had bought earlier until she found a comfortable looking Coca-cola t-shirt and a pair of sleep pants with Bugs Bunny on them. They were hardly proper Goblin King attire, she knew, but who was he trying to impress? She ripped off all the tags and labels, then folded them into a pile and left them outside the door.

She returned to the kitchen and rummaged through the groceries they had bought, as she tried to decide what to make for dinner. She settled on making a roast chicken, and was chopping some of the vegetables she had bought earlier when Jareth emerged from the bathroom.

"Feel all better?" she asked as she finished chopping up a carrot. She gathered the sliced potatoes and celery pieces and arranged them all around the chicken in the pan.

"Yes, much, thank you," Jareth replied as he watched her pull bottles of dried spices out of one of her cabinets. His eyes widened as he watched her haphazardly measure out several spices into a bowl, and return the bottles to the cabinet. She shook the bowl to combine the mixture then noticed Jareth's intent stare.

"What?" She looked around the kitchen, half expecting him to say he'd just seen a cockroach.

"You must be a very wealthy woman," he said as he pointed to the bowl of mixed spices. Sarah gave him a quizzical look.

"Um, no, hardly," she replied. "Why?"

"You're being so generous with your store of spices," he said as if that explained it all.

"Yeah… and… ?"

"I just remembered accepting a shipment of salt and spices once, and paying the trader several gold coins for the lot."

Sarah's jaw dropped. Several gold coins, he'd said? For _spices_? _Yeesh_.

"Wait," Sarah paused. "Did you just say you remembered something? From before?"

Jareth nodded.

"That's great," she said, though Jareth noticed she paled a little. "Do you remember anything else?"

"No, just that."

"Huh." She looked a little reassured. "Well, here anyways, spices are pretty inexpensive. My stepmom used to have a small garden of herbs outside the kitchen when I was younger. I mix a bunch of different ones together and put it all over the chicken. I love making it this way."

He watched as she slid her hand up under the skin on the breast of the chicken, and dumped about half of the mixture in, and spread it around across the meat. She sprinkled the rest of the mixture across the outer surface of the chicken, then poured a can of chicken broth inside the pan.

"Could you open the oven door for me, please?" she asked as she carefully picked up the full pan. "Be careful, it'll be hot."

Jareth nodded and Sarah put the pan in the oven then set the timer for an hour.

"Thank you," she told him as she washed her hands in the sink. She walked to the living room and flopped down on the couch. Jareth followed her and gracefully sat down on the other end. Sarah flipped on the tv for noise, and they sat watching Jeopardy for a while.

"Where is your dog?" Jareth asked her some time later.

"What?"

"You have dog shampoo, but where is your dog?" he clarified.

"Oh." Sarah's face fell. "He.. he died about a year ago. I donated all of his old things to our local shelter, but I didn't have the heart to get rid of the shampoo for some reason."

"I am sorry to hear that. I'm sure he meant a lot to you."

Sarah nodded. "He was a good dog."

Jareth thought back to the memory he had earlier of the voice urging Ambrosius on. "Was his name Ambrosius?" he asked.

Sarah's head whipped up and her look of sadness was immediately replaced by fear. "No. Why?"

_The bastard has had his memory the whole time_, she thought. _He's just waited to get you alone before he tried anything.. _She tensed up, ready to sock him in the face if he made a move towards her.

Jareth shook his head. "I just have this snippet of a memory.. someone urging a dog named Ambrosius on. I think he was wearing a saddle for some reason.."

Jareth noticed Sarah's tense posture, and wondered why such an odd memory would have her so worried. He decided to quickly change the subject.

"No matter, it was probably just a dream. So tell me about yourself. How did we meet?" he asked her, and was surprised that this seemed to put her even more on edge.

"You told me not to tell you anything you wouldn't believe," she said.

He waved one hand. "But I must know how I came to be acquainted with such a kind and caring person."

_Why is this girl so tense? _Every time he brought up the past she seemed fearful.

"It's too long a story," she said dismissively, hoping he would drop the subject.

"So, what's the word- summarize- for me? I have time."

_God, he just doesn't give up_, Sarah thought. How could she skirt past the details now? "Well," Sarah thought back to the day that this man had first entered into her life. "You took my baby brother-"

Jareth tensed suddenly. "I what?" Sarah held out her hand. "It's not what it sounds like. You took him because I asked you to, but I really didn't mean it, but you had to take him anyways."

"Why would I take your baby brother?" Jareth asked, genuinely distressed.

"Because I _asked_ you to-" Sarah began. She suddenly doubted again if he had his memory or not- he sounded truly distraught right now.

"Yes, but _why would I take your baby brother_?" Out of nowhere, dozens, perhaps hundreds, of young faces, boys and girls both, started surfacing to his mind, then were quickly snatched away to be replaced by more. He felt a bit dizzy.

Sarah sighed. "I think it was kind of your job," she told him. "You took him because I wished him away."

"You _wished him away_?"

"I told you you wouldn't believe me.." Sarah grumbled.

Jareth saw that she was starting to lose her nerve, and realized if he wanted any answers, he had to act fast. He pushed the images to the back of his mind and gently put a hand on Sarah's arm.

"I'm sorry, I'll stop disrupting. Please continue?"

Sarah met his gaze, clearly unsure if she should go on. _If he wanted to try something, why didn't he just do it?_ she wondered.

"Please?" he repeated.

"No interruptions," Sarah said, feeling her resolve crumble under the steady gaze of those beautiful eyes. Eyes which held none of the harshness or cunning they had years previously.

"None," Jareth agreed.

She sighed. "Well, like I said, you took my brother away, and I had to prove that I wanted him back and would care for him." Jareth nodded. "I had to find my way through a giant maze within thirteen hours to get to him, and I did, so you gave him back to me."

_Wow, _Sarah thought_, you've just glossed over an entire day in two sentences_. _No Hoggle, Ludo, or Didymus, no Bog or goblins, no dancing in the ballroom_, _if __**that**__ was even real_..

Jareth nodded, and continued to look at her expectantly.

"That's it," Sarah told him.

"That's it?"

Sarah nodded.

"No.." Jareth shook his head. "There's got to be more to it than that. That doesn't explain everything."

"Like what?" Sarah asked.

"Like why you think you hurt me in the past, for one," Jareth said.

Sarah looked at him as if he'd slapped her.

"I'm not talking about that until you can remember it on your own," she said roughly, standing. She walked to the kitchen to check on the chicken roasting in the oven, leaving Jareth dumbfounded on the couch.

Sarah pulled the pan out of the oven, and using a pronged grill fork from the utensil drawer, flipped the chicken over in the pan to finish cooking it breast side down in the pan. She returned the pan to the oven, then with the fork in one hand, turned, intending to wash it in the sink. "Sarah-"

Jareth was behind her when she turned. She gasped, and nearly dropping the fork, she fumbled to catch it then brandished it at Jareth.

"Back up, Jareth." she said. He quickly did so, his hands raised in the air in placation. "I don't want any games- what do you want?"

Jareth stared between her and the fork before answering slowly. "My dear girl, I simply want to know more about you. You're the only person in this world I have any connection to. You are the only link I have to who I am."

Sarah stared at him for a moment, as he stood helpless, held at fork-point by a mere girl. A girl he could quickly and easily overpower if he had wanted to. Once again, she saw that his eyes held no animosity towards her, no hatred for her past victory over him and his maze. She slowly lowered the fork, then tossed it into the sink.

"I'm sorry, Jareth," she sighed. "Sometimes it's hard for me to be around you again. I'm not really sure why you're here."

Jareth nodded sagely. "I know the feeling."

Sarah couldn't help but laugh.

"So," Jareth held his hand out for hers, "would you accompany me back to the couch, and tell me of yourself?"

Sarah eyed his empty hand suspiciously.

_If he wanted to try and do something, don't you think he would have by now? He's had plenty of time.._

"Alright," she finally agreed, and let him lead her back to the couch.

They spoke of Sarah's life up to this point, with Jareth occasionally asking questions, while Jeopardy played on in the background, forgotten. Jareth noticed that while she was a bit reluctant to speak of her family, particularly her brother, she seemed to answer any other questions he asked her without hesitation.

Some time later, the oven timer beeped, and they sat down at her tiny table to eat. Sarah carved up the bird and scooped out some of the vegetables for both herself and Jareth.

"This is delicious," Jareth complimented her. "It's not dry or stringy like chicken can be."

"Thank you," Sarah said with a small smile. "As I said, it's my favorite way to cook them."

After they were both finished eating, she cleared away their dishes, put the remaining chicken and vegetables in the fridge, and prepared the couch for him with blankets, Sarah excused herself for the evening.

"I'm sorry, Jareth, but I've really got to get to sleep to be up for work tomorrow."

Jareth nodded graciously. "Thank you for your help, Sarah."

"No problem," she said.

Jareth touched her hand. "No, really. I don't know where I would be without you."

Sarah felt herself blush as she heard the gratitude in his voice. "Thank you." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. "Um, goodnight, Jareth."

"Goodnight."

* * *

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long delay between chapters. I've tried uploading this one twice, but the FFnet site was giving me some issues and I couldn't get it to post. Sooo.. there you go. Hope you enjoyed it. :)

Thank you to everyone who's been leaving me reviews. I love hearing what everyone thinks, and they do remind me to get my butt back to FF and post another chapter every blue moon!

I do have a small favor to ask of everyone- I need some sort of a romantic song/ love song for Sarah and Jareth to dance to in another story Im working on. I would prefer something a little more out of the box (less mainstream), but Ill take any suggestions you want to share! Any genre is fine, too. Fifty points and Jareth-filled-dreams go to the winner! Thanks a bunch in advance!

As always, please R&R!


	9. Chapter 8

Much grumpiness to ffnet.. I had this chapter ready to go ages ago, but the site was giving me issues and would NOT let me post anything, so here it sat, waiting..

But here we go, finally, another new shiny chapter ready for your (hopeful) enjoyment. :)

* * *

I'm the fear that keeps you awake  
I'm the shadows on the wall  
I'm the monsters they become  
I'm the nightmare in your skull

Voltaire - When you're evil

Chapter 8:

Jareth lay under the covers on the couch, wide awake. He could not see a clock from where he lay, but could hear one in the kitchen, ticking the time away.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

He rolled his eyes and tried unsuccessfully to get more comfortable. The conversation hed had earlier with Sarah was still troubling him. _You took my brother_, she had told him. _I think it was kind of your job_. He was sure she was right- why else could he remember the faces of so many children? But what kind of a monster was he, if it was his _job_ to take them? And possibly even worse; what happened to them all? He could not remember anything else about them..

Troubled, he rolled over again, and tried to calm himself enough to sleep.

* * *

A noise woke Sarah in the middle of the night, and she froze in bed, her heart beating.

_What was that?_

She strained to hear any noise in her quiet apartment. Amazingly, her sleep-numbed brain did remember that she had a guest in the other room, so perhaps thats why her heart and mind were racing so fast. Was Jareth coming to get her? She looked around her room in the dim light of the street lamps coming through her curtains. Nothing in here whatsoever that could function as a weapon.

_Stupid, trusting girl._

She heard the creak of a door opening and froze, breath held, as she waited for the blonde menace to burst through her door and come for her. After what seamed like an eternity, she heard the fan in the bathroom flick on, and another creak of a door, followed by the click of it shutting.

_What? Jareth was in the bathroom? _She let out her held breath. He wasnt breaking into her room?  
The quiet sound of the toilet flushing confirmed that, indeed, he was not in her bedroom.

"Sarah, you stupid, paranoid idiot.." she muttered to herself and rolled back over as she heard the fan shut off and the bathroom door open.

"Sarah?" She froze as Jareths surprised voice called out to her from the hallway. "Sarah?" He repeated as he softly knocked on her closed door. "Are you awake?"

For a moment, Sarah thought of keeping quiet, but realized she was being silly. People who are going to attack you in the middle of the night dont stop off at the bathroom first, then politely knock on your door and ask if you are awake.

"Yes, Im up," she answered back. She turned on the small lamp by her bed, pushed back the covers and walked to her door. She opened it to see Jareth leaning on the frame of her door, one hand rubbing at his face tiredly. "Are you okay?"

He jumped, apparently not expecting her to have opened her door, and quickly schooled his features into a more pleasant expression.

"Of course," he said, hiding his fluster well. "I just heard you talking and wondered if you were alright."

"Im fine," Sarah said, searching his eyes. "Whats wrong?"

"Nothing," Jareth said, a little too readily, Sarah thought. "I just couldnt sleep."

'Jareth," she touched his arm hesitantly, growing concerned. "What is wrong?"

Jareth looked down at her fingers on his arm and sighed, shaking his head.

"Jareth," Sarah scolded him, "I want to help." She linked her hand around his and lead him back out to the couch. "Here, sit."

He did as commanded and waited while Sarah went into the kitchen, fiddled around for a few minutes, then returned carrying two steaming ceramic mugs.

"Here," she said as she returned, and handed him a mug. "Be careful, its hot." She sat down a small distance from him and took a sip from her mug. "Drink it, it will help to calm you down."

Jareth looked at the cup of brownish liquid and tentatively took a sip. "This is delicious," he said, and carefully drank some more.

"Never had hot chocolate?" Sarah asked, hiding a small grin as Jareth looked up with a hot-chocolate-mustache above his mouth. He shook his head.

She waited until half of his cup was gone, then tried questioning him again.

"Alright, Jareth," she turned on the couch to face him. "What is wrong? And dont say nothing again, I know thats a lie.." The corner of Jareths mouth tugged up in a smile then was gone. He sat, staring into his cup of hot chocolate for a while.

"Am I a bad person?" he finally asked her quietly.

"Is that what is bothering you?"

Jareth nodded.

"What makes you think you are a bad person?"

"You said it was my job to take children- my head is swimming with hundreds of young faces.." he gestured with one hand. "I cant remember what happened to any of them. What kind of monster am I, if it is my _job_ to take these innocents?"

"Well," Sarah took a sip of her chocolate, "Im probably not the best person to have a philosophical debate with, but I think there are shades of black and white in every person."

Jareth looked at her, with an expression that clearly said she wasnt helping any.

"Do you know why I took these children? What happened to them?"

Sarah shook her head no and looked down at her hot chocolate.

"I dont know," she lied. "I wasnt there long enough to find out."

_How can I tell you that you turn them into goblins, Jareth, without breaking your heart?_

"Look," Sarah said, meeting Jareths eyes again. "All I can really tell you is that you cannot do anything about the man you _were_, only the man you are _now_, and the man you will be tomorrow. So try not to worry about the past, and just try to be content with the person you are today.''

Jareth looked at Sarah with a bit of hope shining in his eyes. ''Really?''

She nodded. ''Really.''

Jareth nodded to himself as he stared into his cup of hot chocolate, then downed the rest in one gulp. Sarah reached out for his empty cup and took it, along with hers, to the sink.

''Do you think you can get to sleep now?'' she asked, as she returned to the couch.

''I think I can try,'' Jareth answered with a small smile. ''Thank you.''

''Youre welcome.'' She turned off the lights as he lay back down on the couch. ''Goodnight, Jareth.''

''Goodnight, Sarah.''

He listened to her return to her bedroom, then everything was quiet.

* * *

Sarah woke up early Monday morning, and groggily looked at her blaring alarm clock.

''Damn it!'' she swore as she hit the snooze button. ''Why is my alarm going off so early?'' Now she would never be able to get back to sleep. Tiredly, she pushed the covers back.

She went to her closet and pulled out a clean outfit, grabbed two towels out of the linen closet in the hallway, then stumbled to the bathroom to shower.

_A five a.m. shower is a horrible way to wake up! _She thought as she lazily washed the shampoo out of her hair. The smell of roses tickled a memory, but she squashed the thought as she sleepily got out of the shower, dried off, and dressed.

_Must.. have.. caffeine.._

Feeling like a zombie on a search for brains, she trudged out to the kitchen and flicked the lights on. A groan and movement from the corner of the room startled her.

''Holy shit!'' she shrieked. She grabbed the closest thing to her- a kitchen chair- and brandished it alá lion tamer in the direction of the couch.

''Must you make such a racket this early in the morning?'' The covers on the couch moved and a blonde head poked out from under them.

''Jareth!'' Sarah exclaimed. ''God, you scared the crap out of me!'' Feeling sheepish, she placed the chair back down by the table and sat down in it. ''I forgot you were out here.''

''I gathered that,'' he said as he sat up. ''Are you always going to be brandishing kitchen objects at me?'' he asked with a grin. Sarah rolled her eyes. ''What are you doing up so early?''

''I have to go in to work,'' she said. Sarah ran a hand through her tangled damp hair as she worried about leaving Jareth alone in her apartment all day. Maybe that was why shed set her alarm so early- hoping she would have time to think of what to do with him while she was gone. She grimaced. So much for that idea.

''Do you want any coffee?'' She asked as she walked to the tiny coffeemaker on her counter. Jareth looked intrigued.

''Is that like the beverage you made me last night?'' He walked over to where she was scooping ground coffee into the filter above the machine.

''No, unless you add a lot of sugar, coffee tastes more bitter.''

Jareth wrinkled his nose. ''Then why would you want to drink it?''

''People drink it to help them wake up in the morning. Its an acquired taste, I guess.''

Jareth shrugged. ''If you drink it, Ill try a cup,'' he offered. Sarah set out two ceramic mugs while they waited on the machine.

''While Im gone today, youll have to fend for yourself for lunch,'' Sarah told him. ''Theres leftover chicken in the fridge you can warm up in the microwave, if you want.'' She showed him how to push the buttons on the microwave so he could do it later on his own. ''There are things in the pantry here that you can eat without heating up, if you want to.''

Jareth eyed the pantry dubiously.

''Chips,'' she pushed a bag of Ruffles out of the way, ''some jello cups, though those are better if you eat them cold, in my opinion.. granola bars, and there are some different cookies and things in there, help yourself to whatever you want to try, and I can make something new for dinner tonight when I get home. You still have some fruit too,'' she pointed to the counter where they sat in a bowl.

Jareth nodded.

''Okay,'' Sarah said as she poured them both a cup of coffee, ''give this a try.'' She handed him a steaming cup of the black liquid, and stirred two spoonfuls of sugar and some creamer into her own cup. ''Would you like any?'' she held the sugar container out to him.

''No, thank you. Ill try it plain.''

Sarah cringed as she watched him take a careful sip, then couldnt help but laugh as he screwed his face up from the bitterness. He swallowed the coffee in one large gulp, then reached for the sugar bowl.

''Im going to go get ready for work, Jareth,'' she told him, and taking her cup with her, left him to figure out how much sugar and cream it would take to make his coffee palatable.

* * *

Sarah let her mind wander as she applied her makeup and styled her hair in the bathroom. Jareth had seemed to get the hang of the microwave okay, so hopefully he would be fine on his own today. She could deal with leftover chicken exploding in the microwave, as long as he did not burn the place down.

She smiled. It was nice having Jareth around- when he wasnt scaring her, or making her wonder what ulterior motives he might have, anyways. With a frown, she thought back to last night. She could tell he had felt so conflicted about having stolen all the children he had likely taken over his rule as King. Maybe the fact that his conscience was affecting him was a good sign, though. Perhaps, if he regained his memory, he would stop taking children. After all, how many goblins could you really want, even if you were king of the nuisances? Was it possible he could walk away from it all? Wash his hands of it?

Sarahs heart flickered for a moment in her chest. If he were able to walk away from his life in the labyrinth, _would_ he? And more importantly, did she want him to?

There was no way she could keep denying that she was developing feelings for him, though the problem was that she had no idea if she was slowly falling for the real Jareth, or if the Goblin King would return along with his memories.

Her reflection met her eyes in the mirror.

_Do you really think he will still be the same person once he has his memory back?_

She looked at the bottle of rose shampoo sitting on the edge of the tub, and remembered how meek and apologetic he had been after complaining about it.

_No, he probably wont.._

Slightly depressed, Sarah steered herself away from that mental trainwreck with a sigh. She knew she was being naïve to think he would change.

She gave her hair a final brush, called it good, and went to check on Jareth.

* * *

Jareth stirred the sugar into his cup of coffee, and tentatively took a small sip.

_Perfect_.

It only took six spoonfuls of sugar, and two more of creamer, and the result was excellent. He heard Sarahs steps coming down the hallway and he turned to face her, excited.

''It only took adding six..'' he looked at the expression on her face and stopped. ''Whats wrong?'' he asked, standing from his chair.

''Nothing,'' Sarah replied with a small smile. ''I had just been doing some thinking.''

''Are you sure?'' he looked at her, clearly worried.

_Too bad that concerns not really meant for me_, Sarah thought. She waved him back to his coffee.

''Im fine, thanks.'' She could tell Jareth did not believe her, and the silence between them grew.

''I have to get headed for work, but I wanted to show you real quick how to use the phone if you need to.'' She picked up an empty recipe card from the kitchen and wrote two phone numbers down on it, and handed the card to him.

''If you need to talk to me at work, pick up the phone,'' she pointed, ''and dial these numbers. Someone will answer, and you will have to ask to speak to me. When youre done, just hang up the phone.''

Jareth nodded, and looked at the other set of numbers.

''Okay. Who do I talk to here?''

''This is the police or the fire department- youll talk to an operator and you will have to tell her what is wrong, they will send help. Only dial this number if it is an emergency. Got it?''

''Got it.''

Jareth looked at the card in his hands, unsure what to say. He knew something was bothering Sarah, but she clearly did not wish to discuss it.

''Sarah? Can I ask you something?'' he looked back up at her.

''Yes..'' she answered, and the tone of her voice implied that he had better not ask her again if she was okay.

''Uhh,'' he quickly changed his mind, ''can you tell me what this contraption is?'' He pointed to the black box in the living room, with the rows of thin boxes next to it.

''Oh. Yes.'' She walked over to it and opened one of the thin boxes. ''This is called a compact disk; it holds music, and you put them in this machine to listen to them.'' She showed him how to turn the box on, and how to put the shiny silver disk into the holder. She adjusted a knob on the right side of the box and waited. Jareth jumped when classical music started pouring out of the fabric-covered squares that were attached to the sides of the main box.

''This is amazing. You have a whole orchestra in that box.'' In spite of her mood, Sarah laughed.

''Yes, kind of. You can change the disks to listen to different types of music.'' She switched to another disk, pushed a button, and more music started playing.

''Amazing,'' Jareth said, transfixed by this contraption.

''Okay, Ive got to get going. Will you be okay until I get home later this evening?''

Still engrossed in the cd player, Jareth nodded.

''Alright, Ill see you later then.''

* * *

''Sarah, youve been staring at the same screen for over an hour now,'' Chrissy complained, peeking her head over the cubical wall that divided them. Sarah jerked, looked at her computer monitor, and realized she had been. She sighed, and rubbed at her eyes.

''You're right. Im just so worried.'' She gave Chrissy a small smile. ''Is it possible to start a fire with a microwave?''

'Um, Im not sure,'' Chrissy wrinkled her nose. ''Why, are you planning something to get out of work early?''

Sarah stared at her, mouth agape. ''No!'' They both laughed. ''I'm just worried that Jareth's going to accidently burn my apartment down or something. I'm pretty sure he has never used one before.''

Chrissy waved a hand dismissively. ''Who doesnt own a microwave? He'll be fine.'' She leaned over the wall and whispered conspiratorially to her friend. ''So, Ive been dying all morning- does he remember who he is at all? Does he remember _you_?''

Sarah lifted one shoulder and let it fall. ''I dont think he remembers who he is, I mean, not really. He doesnt remember his past, he doesnt remember me from before the hospital.''

''So whats he look like? I only got to see that hospital photo of him they keep flashing on the news. He looks like he would be pretty cute once you take him out of that hospital gown and put him into some decent clothing.'' She winked at Sarah. ''Or just take him out of that hospital gown..''

''It's not like that,'' Sarah rolled her eyes. ''And yes, he is good looking; at least, he is now that he's mostly healed and doesn't look like a frightened animal locked in a cage. He's still a long way from how I remember him though..'' Sarahs eyes went distant as she remembered the proud, fierce king with his bright shock of blonde hair outlined against the night-sky armor he wore. ''Theyre still showing that picture on the news?''

''Yeah, I saw it on a magazine cover too,'' Chrissy nodded. ''Seems they have it all figured out- you two are star-crossed lovers, reunited by fate once more.''

_''Please_,'' Sarah snorted. ''I never figured my life would be tabloid-magazine fodder.''

''So, come on!'' Chrissy bounced a little in her seat, ''tell me about him!''

Sarah smiled. ''Why don't we go ahead and take lunch? We're not getting anything done right now anyways.''

''Then you can fill me in all about him.'' Chrissy agreed as she grabbed her purse.

* * *

The sound of the girls laughter filled the air of the small café.

''Wait- let me get this straight,'' Chrissy said. ''You pick up a chair and _threatened_ the poor man with it?''

Sarah could feel her cheeks turning pink, though she had to admit it _was_ funny. ''Yeah, he probably thinks I used to work at a circus or something!''

Both girls continued laughing for a few moments before they were finally able to catch their breath.

''That's hilarious,'' Chrissy said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. ''It sounds like a riot at your house. Hey, we should all do dinner or something tonight so I can meet him. My treat.''

Sarah looked up in alarm. Chrissy never wanted to meet a guy just to meet him. ''Uh, Chrissy, I really don't think Jareth is in any state for a relationship right now..''

''Oh, don't be silly, I just want to meet him, besides, you said so yourself, there's nothing going on between you two. Right?''

Sarah thought back to getting ready for work in her bathroom that morning. _Do you really think he will still be the same person once he has his memory back? No, he probably wont_..

''I guess, but-''

''Wonderful!'' Chrissy interrupted, clapping her hands together. ''Shall we say, my place, seven o'clock?''

* * *

Author's notes:

Eek! The overly-friendly friend is taking over! Whats a girl to do?

Side note; as much as I love Voltaires quirky funny songs (search for them on YouTube if youve never heard them!), this particular section of lyrics seemed very fitting for this chapter. Both main characters are fighting their own mental demons at this point, and they alone have the power to slay those demons, which can only happen once they realize that fact.

Please review!


	10. Chapter 9

Author's Note: I swear I haven't forgotten or given up on this story. I would say 'scout's honor,' except I never was a scout..  
Anyways, I've been busy with holiday stuff and have been letting my Harry Potter crackfics dominate too much of my free time at the moment. Here' s a bit to tide you over though, more is already in the works so hopefully update wont' be as long coming this time. Enjoy!

* * *

"Well, there's nothing to lose

And there's nothing to prove

And I'll be dancing with myself.."

Billy Idol, "Dancing with myself" 

Chapter 9:

Sarah had a hard time focusing on driving home after work that day. On top of all her other worries now, Chrissy wanted to meet Jareth! What if Jareth actually _liked_ her? _God, what would happen if they actually started __**dating**_? Sarah felt a little sick at the thought.

_But that's not because you like him, it's just… because you know he's not her type. Yeah.._

Sarah sighed, and pulled into the parking lot of a small bakery that was on her way home. Chrissy had said she would make dinner (or buy dinner, Sarah thought, knowing Chrissy's lack of cooking skills), but Sarah had offered to at least bring something for dessert. "But isn't Jareth enough?" Chrissy had asked suggestively. Sarah mimed throwing up as she got out of her car and walked inside.

The tinkle of the small bell on the door and the heavenly scent of dozens of different cakes, cookies, and pies greeted her as she entered.

"May I help you?" the gray-haired clerk behind the counter asked her with a smile.

"Yes. Well, hopefully." Sarah smiled so the man wouldn't think she was a flake. "I need to bring a dessert to a dinner party, but I have no idea what everyone likes."

The man nodded.

"One person.." _just wants to eat my houseguest_, Sarah thought, "..isn't interested in dessert, and I don't really know what sort of things the other likes."

"What are you serving for dinner?" the man inquired.

"Well, my girlfriend is doing the cooking, so I'm not really sure." She replied with a grimace. "Care to recommend something?"

"Okay, well, our best seller is our Whipped Crème Black Forest layer cake." He pointed to a beautiful chocolate-shaving studded cake in the display case. "Chocolate, cherries, what's not to love?"

"Ooh, that does look good," Sarah agreed. Jareth _had _liked her hot chocolate she made him last night, and his small pile of fruit they had bought when they went grocery shopping was slowly dwindling.

"Alright," Sarah nodded, "I'll take that, please." The clerk nodded, and placed the boxed cake in a bag for her. 

* * *

Sarah pulled into a parking spot outside her apartment building and could hear someone's bass from their radio turned up way too loud.

_Pet peeve!_

She ground her teeth as she picked up the plastic bag containing her chocolate cake and shut her car door. As she walked up the stairs to her door, the sound of electric guitar and male voices singing joined the bass she could already hear- and now feel- vibrating in the air.

_Why can't people realize we don't want to hear their music?_ she thought.

Annoyed, she fished her keys out of her pocket and unlocked her door. Sound blasted her as she opened the door to her living room.

"-the social pages say I've got the biggest balls of all. I've got big balls, I've got big balls. They're such big balls, and they're _dirty _big balls. And _he's_ got big balls, and _she's_ got big balls-"

"_But we've got the biggest balls of them all_!" the chorus chimed in.

From the other side of the living room, Jareth came dancing in to Sarah's view, hips gyrating wildly. He was clad only in a pair of boxers, which appeared to be a size too small for him, and left very little to Sarah's imagination.

Shocked, Sarah dropped the plastic bag she was holding and grabbed the doorway for support as her knees gave way under her. The cake fell to the floor with a soft thud. Jareth was so absorbed in the music he did not even realize Sarah was standing there, dumbfounded.

"I figured that wasn't you listing to ACDC that many times in a row," a sage voice behind Sarah made her jump. She turned to see old Mrs. Wilson behind her, staring over Sarah's shoulder at Jareth's wild moves. The gray-haired old woman winked at Sarah. "You just let him carry on like that as long as he wants," she cackled.

Jareth finally turned and saw the two women staring at him from the doorway. Mrs. Wilson smiled at him and waved with a gnarled hand. Jareth smiled and waved back at Mrs. Wilson, then walked to Sarah, still standing in the doorway, dazed.

"You're home!" He said happily, and picked up the plastic bag where it still sat on the floor by her feet. "Come on in," he pulled her inside and shut the door behind him. He quickly paused the music as Sarah sat down on the couch.

"Where are your clothes?" Sarah asked, trying to keep her eyes averted from Jareth's boxers. His upper body was as gorgeous as she remembered; well defined with six-pack abs to boot, and she finally forced her eyes to his face.

"It got hot once I started playing the music, so I took them off. You wore shorts like these last night," he shrugged.

"I wore shorts, not boxers," Sarah muttered, knowing that the difference between the two was probably lost on Jareth. "Didn't anyone complain about the music?" she asked. Jareth shook his head.

"No, but a very nice woman came and knocked on the door while you were gone. I wrote her name down-" he went to the kitchen counter and picked up a small piece of paper. "'Officer Soderberg.' She looked angry when I first opened the door, but after she asked me if everything was okay, she told me to have a nice day, and she left." Jareth smiled winningly at Sarah.

_Ohh, he just does not get it_, Sarah put a hand to her head. She could well imagine a police officer being called to her apartment for a noise complaint, then being met by a mostly-naked Jareth at the door. Sarah was sure she'd walk away happy too.

"Are you okay? You look pretty red," Jareth asked her.

"I'm fine! I'm hot- it's hot in here," she explained as she blushed further. Before she could say anything more, Jareth grabbed one of her hands, excited.

"Sarah, guess what?" he smiled at her, clearly happy about something.

"What?" Sarah asked, still slightly dazed.

"I remembered something else today!" The flash of panic across Sarah's face was not missed by him, though he ignored it. He turned and started the music up again, though at a lower volume this time.

"-_I've got big balls, oh I've got big balls, and they're such big balls_-" the song announced. Jareth paused the cd player again.

"I had big balls!" he exclaimed happily.

"Excuse me?" Sarah asked, temporarily too shocked to worry about the fact that he had regained more lost memories.

"I had grand balls where people dressed in costumes, and danced and ate fine foods and.. Well, I do not recall anything else but I do remember throwing many of them! People came from everywhere to attend." He beamed proudly. "I loved throwing those balls."

Sarah swallowed her fear. "Do you remember anything else about them?" she asked, though she thought she already knew the answer, since he was still happy.

"No. Should I?"

Sarah just shook her head and shrugged.

"No, I was just curious." She refused to meet Jareth's eyes for a moment.

"Look," she said, trying to change the subject, "Chrissy, one of my girlfriends from work, invited us over for dinner tonight. Would you like to come?"

"I get to meet one of your friends?" Jareth practically beamed. "I would be honored!"

"Alright, well, why don't you go hop in the shower and freshen up. I'll get you one of your new outfits and leave them on the counter." Jareth nodded, turned down the hallway to grab a clean towel, then disappeared into the bathroom.

Mouth open slightly, Sarah watched as he went, drawn like a magnet to the view.

* * *

Jareth was finished showering in about five minutes again, confirming to Sarah that he just didn't linger in the water the way she did. He exited the bathroom wearing a sharp-looking pair of black pants, and a white, button-up, long-sleeved shirt. His hair, still damp, he had just thrown back into a ponytail.

"How do I look?" he asked her, and slowly spun in place, arms held out. Sarah smiled. Obviously Jareth was nervous about meeting one of her friends, and wanted to make a good impression.

_He could show up wearing a burlap sack and Chrissy would still love him_, Sarah thought wryly.

"You look great." She reassured him. "And don't worry about what she thinks."

Jareth looked surprised. "Really?"

"Really." Sarah nodded. "She doesn't know you the way I know you, so she will probably judge you by different standards. You don't need to try to impress her, just relax and be yourself. Have fun."

Jareth nodded. "So we are not having dinner with her just so she can stare at the new man who has lost his memory?"

Sarah laughed.

"Well, I hate to admit that's probably part of her curiosity," _besides the fact that she knows you are gorgeous_, "but I think deep down, she really just wants to make sure the new man staying with her friend is okay."

"Besides not remembering much, I am okay." Jareth stated seriously.

"No," Sarah smiled. "I mean that she wants to make sure you are not a mass-murderer or something. She wants to make sure you aren't going to hurt me."

Jareth looked affronted.

"I would never hurt you, Sarah," he sounded a bit hurt.

Sarah smiled sadly. _I wish I knew that would always be true_, she thought.

"I know, but it's just something she wants to be sure of, that's all." Jareth nodded solemnly. "Then she is a good friend."

* * *

Sarah smiled as Jareth fiddled with the radio buttons in her car. He had quickly realized that they were similar to the ones on her cd player, and he had happily started changing stations, listening to snippets of different songs as she drove.

"Hey, Jareth, how does the cake look in there?" she asked. He stopped playing with the radio knobs and peered inside the plastic bag she had given him to hold on the way to Chrissy's house.

"It looks like it's covered in dirt. Or leaves, maybe." He glanced up at her with a concerned look on his face. "Is it supposed to look like that?"

She came to a red light and quickly glanced inside the bag at the cake. Aside from now standing a little crookedly in the box, it appeared no worse for the wear.

"It's fine. That stuff on the outside are chocolate shavings, like your hot chocolate last night. It's chocolate inside, and there are cherries in it, too."

Jareth's eyebrows raised appreciatively and he held the box a little more securely with one hand, and returned to the radio buttons with the other.

"Here we are," Sarah announced a short while later as she pulled into the driveway to Chrissy's small house. "Remember, don't be nervous."

Together they walked up the stairs, and before Sarah could even reach up to ring the doorbell, the front door was flung open and Chrissy - wearing a low cut, short black dress and wearing lots of makeup- burst out onto the steps.

"Sarah!" She swept her friend into a huge- and unusual- hug. "I'm so glad you could make it!" She turned to Jareth and gave him a sultry look. "And you must be Jareth," she said. "I'm so happy to meet you," she held out one hand for him to take, Sarah assumed so she could lead him inside.

Unsure of what to do, Jareth handed her the plastic handle to the cake bag. Chrissy looked to her friend with a surprised expression. Sarah just shrugged.

"Uh, we brought a cake for dessert," Sarah told her with a smile. Chrissy just gave a weak smile back in return and gestured them inside.

"Whoa, Chrissy, you didn't have to go overboard. It's just me and Jareth," Sarah said as she saw the fancy table setting that awaited them in the dimly lit dining room. A pair of candles flickered softly in their holders, and wine goblets were placed around the table. Soft music was being played somewhere.

"Oh, nonsense. This is a night to celebrate!" She said as she placed the cake into the fridge and returned with a chilled bottle of red wine.

"Um, what exactly are we celebrating?" Sarah asked.

Chrissy either did not hear her, or ignored her question, and shooed them to their seats at the table.

"I hope you like filet mignon?" She asked Jareth directly as she poured him a glass of wine.

"I have no idea, to be honest," he replied, eyeing the glass.

"Oh!" Chrissy exclaimed. "Wherever are you from that you've never had filet?" She looked at Sarah with exaggerated sympathy in her eyes. "The poor thing!"

Jareth politely cleared his throat. "I meant that I simply cannot remember if I've ever had such an item," he clarified. This simply earned another squeal of pity. Sarah could tell by the subtle clenching of Jareth's jaw that the night was already not going as well as planned.

Sarah waved the wine away as Chrissy came to pour her a cup. "I have to drive. I'll just get some water, but thank you," she said, and quickly made her way around the corner to the kitchen with her glass. Chrissy followed her into the kitchen a moment later.

"My God, Sarah, why didn't you tell me he is so _gorgeous_?" She whispered.

"Um, I told you he looked much better since he is starting to heal," Sarah replied, gesturing for Chrissy to be quiet. She thought back to the night before, when Jareth _had_ to have heard her muttering to herself in her bedroom. How else would he have known she was awake?

Chrissy, however, appeared not to understand what Sarah meant.

"I mean, could I ever be so lucky to find him waiting in my bed with a jar of hot fudge?" she giggled.

"I'm.. I'm going back out to the dining room now.." Sarah excused herself. Her face felt like it was on fire as she turned the corner and reentered the dining room where Jareth sat waiting. Sure enough, Jareth immediately noticed.

"Sarah," he said as he rose from his seat, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she said, and quickly found her seat. "Thank you."

Jareth nodded and returned to his seat just as Chrissy came around the corner carrying two plates. "Here you go," she said, and placed one in front of Jareth and Sarah, then returned carrying a third for herself. "Bon Appétit."

The three started to eat, and for a while, the room was quiet.

_Is that Kenny G_? Sarah thought with a mental grimace as she listened the music still playing softly somewhere in the house.

"This is wonderful, Chrissy," Sarah complimented her. She knew better than to ask which caterer she used for tonight. Jareth's mouth was full so he nodded his agreement.

"So, Jareth," Chrissy eyed the man overtly, "how did you and Sarah meet?"

Sarah choked on the drink of water she had been swallowing just then. Jareth turned to her, making sure she was okay, before he answered.

"I.. Actually I don't really remember meeting her. I know we met when she was younger," he said.

"Do you remember anyone from your past?" Chrissy asked. "Any family members, friends.. girlfriends?" she took a bite of filet in what Sarah assumed was supposed to be a seductive manner. Fortunately, the move seemed to have been lost on Jareth.

"No, I can't remember anyone before I met Sarah in the hospital." He took a bite. "Or, re-met, rather." He looked over at Sarah and smiled. "She's so kind and caring to me. She's been great." "Oh?" Chrissy asked, her tone icy.

Jareth nodded. "Yes. They would have locked me up unless I had somewhere to go, and Sarah fought to keep it from happening. She fought to be able to bring me home."

"I bet," Chrissy tersely replied.

Sarah smiled and spent the next few minutes carefully cutting her filet to avoid Chrissy's gaze. She was sure the woman had to be shooting daggers at her at the moment.

After everyone had finished eating, Sarah helped Chrissy clear their dishes, then they all went to sit in the living room to talk. Jareth sat down on one end of the couch, and Chrissy quickly walked to claim the other end, forcing Sarah to take the lone chair in the corner.

"So, Jareth," Chrissy leaned towards him conspiratorially, "do you have any plans this weekend?"

Jareth shook his head. "I don't know," he turned to Sarah. "Do we have any plans?"

"I haven't made any concrete plans, but thought it might be fun to take you to sightseeing."

Chrissy continued speaking to Jareth as if Sarah hadn't spoken. "If you don't have any plans," she scooted closer to him, "I'd love to take you out for dinner, or maybe drinks?" She put one arm on the couch behind Jareth and rubbed her fingers across the smooth leather. Sarah squirmed in her chair, uncomfortable. She didn't come here tonight to be ignored while Chrissy tried to get Jareth into bed with her.

"Drinks would be great," Jareth surprised Sarah by replying. "Do you know how to make Hot Chocolate? It is delicious," he said seriously.

Sarah tried to suppress a giggle as her friend's plan was obviously not working. Sarah _had_ warned her that Jareth was not ready for a relationship.

Chrissy laughed. "Honey, I can make _anything_ hot you want," she nearly purred.

Sarah stood up from her chair suddenly.

"Who wants cake?" she said, and retreated to the kitchen to start cutting pieces for everyone. _All the faster to get this night over with! _she thought. She quickly returned carrying three small plates and forks. She handed Chrissy and Jareth their plates, and returned to her chair to eat her cake as quickly as possible.

"Ooh, you brought a black forest cake?" Chrissy said. "Don't you just _love_ cherries?" she said to Jareth as she speared one from the top of her piece of cake and ate it slowly.

Sarah choked on a mouthful of cake. _That's it_, she thought. She set her half-finished plate on the end table nearby, and stood. She had no idea how Jareth felt towards Chrissy, but she could no longer sit there and listen to her friend trying so desperately to seduce Jareth. She had to leave. _Now_.

"Um, I think I need to get going," she told them. "I can come back later, or," she mentally cringed, "in the morning, and pick Jareth up." She said this to directly to him, and kept her face expressionless. If he wanted to stay she was not going to try to sway him either way. He was a big boy and could make his own decisions.

Jareth stood immediately, cake still in hand. "Sarah, are you okay?" he asked her, concern coloring his voice. Chrissy looked furious.

"I'm fine," Sarah said, "I just need to go home. You can stay if you want, that's fine," she told him.

"Yes, Jareth, why don't you stay a bit longer? I've still got some more red wine in the fridge," she tugged on his hand. Jareth jumped at her touch, and took a step away.

"Thank you, but no," he told her, eyes on Sarah. "Allow me to just gather up our dishes and we'll be on our way," he said as he carried his and Sarah's plates to the kitchen. He returned and gave a polite half-bow to Chrissy. "Thank you for a fine meal, madam. Perhaps we can do this again another night, but for now, I'm afraid we must take our leave." He turned his back to her to make sure Sarah was okay.

"But I thought there isn't anything going on between you two!" Chrissy demanded of Sarah angrily.

_There isn't_, Sarah thought, and opened her mouth to say so, but Jareth found his voice first.

"Of course there is something between us," he told Chrissy simply. "Good day."

And with that, Jareth placed a gentle hand on Sarah's elbow and ushered her out the door, down the steps, and to the car. Chrissy's face was red with anger as she watched out her window as Jareth opened the car door for Sarah, and smoothly closed it once she got in. He could hear Chrissy's shriek of anger as they backed out of the driveway and left.

* * *

Author's Note II:

Gah, girl needs to keep her hands off _my_ Goblin King! Er.. I mean _Sarah's _Goblin King! Yeah!

So what does our confused Sarah think of Jareth professing some feelings for her? Poor thing.


End file.
